[bscb-l] Boston Globe: MBTA unveils 23 percent fare hike; limited service cuts also proposed

[Rick Morin]

MBTA unveils 23 percent fare hike; limited service cuts also proposed

  <http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/etaf/pointer_top.gif> By
Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

Get ready to dig deeper to ride the MBTA.

Riders on the public transit system would pay an average of 23 percent more
and most service cuts would be spared under a budget-balancing plan
announced this morning by the T.

The changes, to take effect July 1, are significantly less severe than the
two proposals unveiled by the T in January and widely criticized at hearings
throughout Greater Boston in recent months. Those proposals would have
relied entirely on fare increases and service cuts to make up the $160
million deficit the MBTA faces for the upcoming budget year. 

Instead, the T hopes to use $51 million in one-time funds from the state's
motor vehicle inspection program to soften the blow on transit riders,
Secretary of Transportation Richard A. Davey said. Other sources --
including $7 million in leftover snow and ice money from the mild winter,
and an unexpected $5 million from a deal to lease the North Station parking
garage -- help reduce the amount that will need to be made up by transit
riders to about $90 million, Davey said. 

Davey warned in a news conference that the plan was just a one-year fix --
and that more unpopular decisions could be ahead.

"I can't emphasize enough this is a one-year solution. And all things being
the same, we will be back in the same position a year from now, looking at
service cuts and potentially more fare increases," he said.

He said the debt service costs on the T's billions of dollars in debt were
rising, along with such costs as employee health insurance and providing
service to the disabled. Fare revenue cannot keep pace, he said.

Under the plan unveiled today, subway riders using a CharlieCard would pay
$2 instead of $1.70 -- an 18 percent increase -- while bus riders using the
prepaid card would pay $1.50 instead of $1.25, a 20 percent hike. A monthly
bus and subway pass would rise to $70, from $59. 

Students and seniors would still pay discounted fares, but their discount
would shrink. And fares for The Ride, the door-to-door service for the
disabled, would double from $2 to $4 for riders in the region's inner core
while rising to $5 in a new "premium" area in outlying suburban
neighborhoods, Davey said. 

Instead of deep cuts to service, the T will eliminate four of its nearly 200
bus routes and reduce runs on 14 additional bus routes. It will also
eliminate weekend service on three commuter rail lines, Greenbush,
Plymouth/Kingston, and Needham. 

But the T will largely preserve threatened ferry service and will continue
running the Green Line's E Line trolley to Brigham Circle on weekends --
stopping short of Heath but not eliminating it, allowing riders to reach the
Longwood Medical Area and nearby art museums -- Davey said. Ferry fares will
be raised about 35 percent, and the Quincy boat will be eliminated on
weekends, with the goal of ending public subsidies for the ferry lines but
keeping them operating. 

"We've spent the last two months out at 30 hearings listening to customers,
and our proposal I think reflects what we've heard from our customers,"
Davey said. "Overwhelmingly, we heard from folks that they were opposed to
cuts in service, and we should really look to try to minimize cuts as much
as we could -- but at the same time realizing the fiscal realities that many
customers said they would pay a little more to maintain service."

Governor Deval Patrick told reporters at the State House that he agreed the
plan was a one-year fix and vowed to put the MBTA's problems at the top of
the legislative agenda next year.

"This is neither a permanent nor a comprehensive solution," he said. "The T
will be back in this situation next year."

"I don't favor short-term patches," he said, adding at another point, "This
solution is all about patches and plugs."

Patrick would not offer any suggestions for how to fix the problem, saying,
"I'm going to reserve my judgment on what the best solution should be."

The T last raised fares Jan. 1, 2007. The coming increases -- which still
need approval from the MBTA board -- would keep T fares competitive with
those in other major cities, Davey said. 

The transfer from the vehicle inspection fund would require the Legislature
to tweak a state law that requires that money to be spent on motor vehicle
air quality; the money is a surplus remaining from when the inspection
sticker was raised to $29, with most of the fund invested in modernizing
motor vehicle inspections, Davey said. 

"As we read the statute, we didn't believe the MBTA fell under that, but
frankly I can't think of any other better air-quality improvement than
getting people on public transportation and out of their cars. So we believe
this is an appropriate use of that surplus, to at least give the MBTA fiscal
flexibility to keep service running," he said. 

The T also for the first time will ask Ride customers to volunteer
information about the nature of their trips, a move the MBTA has been
reluctant to make in the past for legal reasons. But some of those trips are
medically related and could be eligible for federal Medicaid reimbursement,
a move that could yield $5 million but would require legislative action to
allow the MBTA and the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services
to coordinate on the matter, Davey said. 

Eric Moskowitz can be reached at emoskowitz at globe.com. Follow him on Twitter
@GlobeMoskowitz. 
 
Regards,
 
Rick Morin
rick.morin at comcast.net
781-373-1044
 
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