January 2, 2012
WBUR

The MBTA has proposed fare hikes as high as 43 percent as well as service reductions in an effort to close a projected $161 million budget gap for the 2013 fiscal year.

[...]

Both scenarios would eliminate ferry service, commuter rail service after 10 p.m. and on weekends, and weekend service on the Mattapan Line and the Green Line’s E branch.

Officials say they will hold 20 public hearings this spring before announcing any final decisions. Any fare hikes would go into effect on July 1.

Stuart Spina, the T Riders Union chair, says the changes are short-sighted and don’t address the T’s ballooning debt.

“Either way you’re just going to have to keep raising fares and then cutting service until you’re left with only a rush hour service that only a handful of people can afford,” Spina said.

[...]

Spina says it’s up to lawmakers to find a way to fully fund the transportation system.

“The T has done a really reasonable job of looking at internal efficiencies but kind of gotten to the point where you guys need to step up and actually talk about, how are we going to sustainably fund our transportation network?” he said.

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