The M.T.A - Kingston Trio

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The song 'The M.T.A', often called "The MTA Song" is a 1949 song by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawse. Known informally as "Charlie on the MTA", the song's lyrics tell of a man called Charlie, trapped on Boston's subway system, then known as Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).

The song became a hit in 1959 when recorded and released by the Kingston Trio (peaked at No.15 on the US singles charts where it spent eleven weeks). The song became so entrenched in Boston lore that the Boston-area transit authority named its electronic card-based fare collection the "Charlie Card" as a tribute to this song.

The transit organization, The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), held a dedication ceremony for the card system in 2004 which featured a performance of the song by the Kingston Trio and then-governor Mitt Romney.

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