Possible Fare Hike Announced Today!

jamesinclair wrote:
Zone 1a should remain at base fare. Porter is Porter, regardless of mode of travel. How would it make sense to charge $2.00 for Riverside and $3.00 for Yawkey?

Seems like your system puts 90% of the burden on the poor (bus riders) while subsidizing the wealthier suburban commuter rail riders.

But, to trot out my example from the last fare increase (Watertown Sq)...back in the days of a Combo pass, it got you from Watertown to downtown by any route (trackless+subway, bus+subway, or express bus). After the fare increase, the express buses went up in fare while the local bus+subway route went down. I guess the argument was that you should pay extra for the "express" trip downtown (even though traffic often meant it wasn't more express).

So why should someone using the commuter rail "express" route to Porter Sq or Malden or some other point pay extra for the direct service?

jamesinclair wrote: My proposal:

Leave fares the same. Lower day pass to $7. Lower zone 1 by 75 cents and zone 2 by 25 cents.

We had a sales tax increase to pay for mass transit. Last I checked, thats still being collected each and every day.

And there's part of the problem. Sales tax revenues continue to slide, and have been since forward funding started. Their decline is a major source of problems with FF, and in the recent increase, all the state legislature did was decide to dig deeper into a well that's drying up.

BostonUrbEx wrote:The Ride seems to consistently be in shambles as far as organization and execution goes. Maybe it's not that dire, but there always seems to be problems with bloat and waste here. Why does this have to operate under the MBTA? Can we please cut The Ride, all operating costs, and all debts associated from the MBTA? I don't care if you keep the logo on it, but keep that debt away. In fact, there was an article about it running over budget in the Metro today or yesterday. I wonder what % of the debt can be attributed to The Ride.

Major necessary policy changes:
The Ride
Mandated Big Dig projects
Insufficient funding

I suspect it gets left with the T because both a) it grew out of mitigating for inaccessible transit facilities, and b) because the rest of MassDOT is just as broke. Transferring it to MassDOT for financial support just rearranges the deck chairs. Remember MassDOT (and MassHighway before it) is the agency that has been issuing capital bonds for things like grass mowing and line painting. Nearly 3/4 of the funds from the highway trust fund (where your gas taxes go) is going to debt service - sadly makes the T look good in some respects.

octr202 wrote:
But, to trot out my example from the last fare increase (Watertown Sq)...back in the days of a Combo pass, it got you from Watertown to downtown by any route (trackless+subway, bus+subway, or express bus). After the fare increase, the express buses went up in fare while the local bus+subway route went down. I guess the argument was that you should pay extra for the "express" trip downtown (even though traffic often meant it wasn't more express).

So why should someone using the commuter rail "express" route to Porter Sq or Malden or some other point pay extra for the direct service?


And there's part of the problem. Sales tax revenues continue to slide, and have been since forward funding started. Their decline is a major source of problems with FF, and in the recent increase, all the state legislature did was decide to dig deeper into a well that's drying up.

Then even out the express bus fares instead. They should be part of the same zone model. Make them zone 1a, zone 1, etc etc. Bring back 1b if needed.

As I said, why would you charge more for Yawkey when it's practically downtown? Yes, Porter via commtuer rail is ëxpress" but only because someone coming from NS would have to make a circuitous transfer on the red line. Why punish riders for being able to make a faster trip?

That is, the express bus offers a point-to-point service with extra costs, so the higher fare makes sense, especially because the return trip is empty.

But having people board the commuter rail to porter, which the train would be stopping at anyway, adds no additional cost to the MBTA. If it was a special shuttle, then I could see the argument for a special fare.

I believe sales tax revenue has risen this year. And will continue to do so in the future.

I would argue that some of the zone 1A stations should be kept as cheap as possible. Porter and JFK/UMass relieve the Red Line. Yawkey keeps a lot of Sox traffic off the Green Line. Medford, Chelsea, and the Fairmount Line stations are desperately underserved by transit.

Malden, Forest Hills, and Ruggles are iffier, though probably irrelevant because the time saved is virtually nil and most folks will take the more-frequent Orange Line.

I agree, $2 for a Subway ticket is a steal! Yes the commuter rail is not that cheap, but hey.

I wouldn't mind paying a bit more for hopes of a better, and hopefully in the future, expanded network of commuter rail and transit. I think for it's population, New England lacks greatly in public transportation.

fares need to rise 36% just to cover wages & fringes. what about $1103m in sales tax & local assessments that burden the rest of us? fares need to rise 86% to cover principal & interest of $387m. this is an economic disaster. $5bil in debt, $1.6 bil budget.
time to re-think commuter rail . definitely no time to do the south coast . cancel fitchburg.
i believe fares should double.
ken patrick

KEN PATRICK wrote:i believe fares should double.

This coming from someone who lists their location as Mashpee and has probably been on the T once in their life.

For those of us who need the T to make a living and can't afford for fares to go (much) higher, what you're suggesting is absolutely ridiculous.

Yes, a fare hike is in order and those of us who have to pay it will do so. But double? Are you trying to undo the large ridership gains seen over the past couple years?

So, those who ride public transit should suffer because of debt from a highway expansion project?

mitch3910 wrote:

KEN PATRICK wrote:i believe fares should double.

This coming from someone who lists their location as Mashpee and has probably been on the T once in their life.

For those of us who need the T to make a living and can't afford for fares to go (much) higher, what you're suggesting is absolutely ridiculous.

Yes, a fare hike is in order and those of us who have to pay it will do so. But double? Are you trying to undo the large ridership gains seen over the past couple years?

Im sure Ken would also support doubling the gas tax to pay for what are currently subsidized roads.

Right?

jamesinclair wrote:

mitch3910 wrote:

KEN PATRICK wrote:i believe fares should double.

This coming from someone who lists their location as Mashpee and has probably been on the T once in their life.

For those of us who need the T to make a living and can't afford for fares to go (much) higher, what you're suggesting is absolutely ridiculous.

Yes, a fare hike is in order and those of us who have to pay it will do so. But double? Are you trying to undo the large ridership gains seen over the past couple years?

Im sure Ken would also support doubling the gas tax to pay for what are currently subsidized roads.

Right?

Ken are you out of your mind? Fare should double? How often do you take the train? I am willing to bet you hardly ever step foot on a commuter train. Paying $223 a month plus $4 a day to park 5 days a week is about $303 monthly, that is already very costly! They already doubled the parking from $2 to $4 which was a large jump. To even suggest that is outrageous!! I am a working individual who relies on the train to get me to work so yes if there is a hike we will have to pay it. However if my pass doubled to $446 I could never afford it. Terrible suggestion on your part buddy!

Doubling commuter rail fares would certainly eliminate any issues with overcrowding or capacity for some time to come.

Please note the sarcasm above.

my intent is to focus on an out-of-control beast. there are thousands of highly-paid people in mbta and suppliers. their intent is job preservation the easy way. continue to expand a defunct system at everyone's expense. mbta doesn't understand alternatives. the best of everything is the norm. it's like a kabuki dance when you listen to their presentations. at what point do all of you agree that the system must be curbed? triple fares to break-even? and yes, i've enjoyed the blue line to red to orange to commuter rail years ago .a treat. i'm in plymouth now and love to drive. why not, we have a $14bil road structure to use.
ken patrick

And that 14b road structure was built by fairies, paid for by unicorns, and maintained by trolls?

jamesinclair wrote:And that 14b road structure was built by fairies, paid for by unicorns, and maintained by trolls?

He must be paying for it through that recently doubled or tripled SE Expressway toll fee.