Riders protest subway, bus fare hikes
By Gintautas Dumcius/ State House News Service
Friday, November 10, 2006 - Updated: 11:40 AM EST

In the presence of an angry group of transit commuters decrying a fare increase, the MBTA’s board of directors voted Thursday to raise subway fares to $1.70 and bus rides to $1.25. The increases take effect in January.
T Riders Union members, with some wearing plastic hard hats and carrying “Public Transit Toolboxes” with signatures from 3,000 individuals, read statements of opposition to the fare increase from Boston City Councilors Felix Arroyo, Chuck Turner, and Sam Yoon, as well as Governor-elect Patrick.
“We’re going to investigate each of you individually. We’re going to get rid of this board,” said Jeff Booth, 45, a Somerville resident who works at the Harvard University Library and a member of AFSCME Local 3650. Working people are “going to cause some political pain,” he said.
In an e-mailed statement from his campaign, Patrick said he was “disappointed” in the vote. “It is clear that the MBTA revenue system needs a good long look and significant reform, but raising fares is the wrong answer. This places the fiscal burden on workers, students, and tourists using public transit to visit our beaches and historic sites.”
Patrick added: “We should working to attract new riders by making the subway, commuter rail, and buses more efficient and appealing. I have said for months that this is the wrong action at the wrong time.”
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has also expressed opposition to the increases.
The nine-member board unanimously voted this Thursday to impose the hike, the second in three years, after taking testimony for about an hour from upset members of the Transit Riders Union (TRU) and others at the Transportation Building.
The vote drew a smattering of boos and hisses from the back of the room.
With the MBTA $8 billion in debt and using 27 percent of its budget to pay the debt off each year, transit officials say they had little choice: Either cut services, or hike fares to pay down the budget gap.
Upping the cost of a subway trip by 45 cents to $1.70 and a bus trip to $1.25 from 90 cents, the increases would bring in $70 million, just covering the agency’s budget shortfalls.
The board voted to make some cuts to the proposals, with riders using cash facing surcharges of 30 cents instead of 55 cents for the subway and 25 instead of 40 cents for the bus. A weekly pass will cost $15, $3 less than originally proposed. Instead of a combo pass, a new “LinkPass” will cost $59, also down $3 from what was originally proposed.
“I don’t think the MBTA has any other short-term choice to raise fares,” said Michael Widmer, head of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, and a commission member. “At the same time, the juxtaposition of raising fares and eliminating tolls couldn’t be worse public policy,” he said, referring to plan to eliminate tolls in Western Massachusetts. “If anything, we should be doing the reverse.”