It’s not as if no one saw this coming. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has been deep in debt for a while and has been seriously considering service cuts and fare hikes for months. Not even a team of MBTA superheroes could stave off the villiany that is paying more for less.
On Wednesday, the MBTA unveiled their newest plan to fix the city’s ailing public transportation system. Fares have increased by 23%. The bus will now be $1.50 with a Charlie Card, and the subway will cost $2. It’s a quarter more for the former and three dimes for the latter.
It’s a difference that adds up for commuters who take public transportation to and from work every day. It’s ten dollars more per month, which might seem like peanuts to some, until you consider that ten dollars is 8 bus rides–at least, for now.
If they pass the MBTA board, these new regulations will take effect on June 1. But fare hikes aren’t the only change being made. There will also be service cuts.
Bus 48, which runs through Jamaica Plain, will be completely eliminated. So will buses to Newton, Burlington and Malden. There will also be substantial cuts to existing bus and subway service, and a possible abbreviation of the E Line.
The MBTA’s proposal in January was hotly contested, and after 25 public meetings and six public hearings, they made adjustments to their plan. They listened to popular suggestions from citizens and groups like the T Riders Union, among them taking $5 million from what the Mass Department of Transportation would normally use for snow removal that went untouched this year.
Overall, the hikes and cuts will save the MBTA $15.4 million dollars next year. The number might sound big, until you consider that the gap is around $185 million. It’s putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
What else might the T be able to do to stitch the hole? Perhaps it could do to attract a few more riders. It would seem that they’re on track to do so: the MBTA just reported a record-breaking February. Ridership was up 8%, hitting numbers usually reserved for the fall months.
Just how many people will keep riding the T after the change in service and fees remains to be determined.
The solution is clear: vote Democratic so that the Federal government will finally help fund infrastructure projects with the money collected by the wealthiest 1% the GOP is refusing to tax right now.