(The following article by Mac Daniel was posted on the Boston Globe website on October 7.)
BOSTON — The MBTA said yesterday it would proceed with announced fare increases on subway, bus, and commuter rail lines, but would provide some relief to riders who depend on public transit by reducing prices for its most popular bus and subway passes and by offering free rides for children 11 and younger traveling with an adult.
Under the new fares, subway and trolley rides would go from $1.25 to $1.70, and bus fares from 90 cents to $1.25. Most commuter rail passes would cost 22 percent more.
The new fares would go into effect in January, the second set of increases in three years. They are to be voted on by the T’s board of directors next month, but the board almost always follows the recommendation of administrators.
Riders who pay cash or use automated fare tickets instead of the automated CharlieCards, which will become available by the end of the year, would pay 25 cents more to ride buses and 30 cents more to ride subways and trolleys. Under the T’s original proposal, made in April, the surcharge would have been 40 cents for buses and 55 cents for subways and trolleys.
Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said the surcharge was reduced after riders complained about its size and the odd amounts of money required: $1.65 for buses and $2.25 for the subway.
“It’s less of a surcharge and it’s an easier figure to deal with,” he said yesterday.
The revisions in the fare hike proposal, however, did not mollify some rider advocates, who said it is still unfair to lower-income residents who do not have cars and rely on the T to get around.
“One of the things the fare policy states is that they address socioeconomic factors,” Lee Matsueda, organizer at the T Riders Union, said yesterday. “The T has failed to do this by having fares increase across the board through all modes.”
He also said the proposal would hurt many bus riders, largely because they will have limited access to the new CharlieCard vending machines. As a result, he said, lower-income residents of neighborhoods served only by buses will be forced to pay the surcharge.
Before last raising fares in January 2004, the T lowered the announced hikes after a public outcry. This year, after a series of public hearings and despite opposition from some politicians, T officials decided to keep most of their initial proposal.
T officials say they need the higher fares, which are projected to bring in $71 million a year, to balance the budget after two years of shortfalls.
They acknowledge that the fare hikes will drive away an estimated 16.5 million passengers a year. The MBTA carries about 1.1 million passengers on an average workday.
The other proposed changes include:
— The price of an unlimited combination bus and subway pass, which will be called a LinkPass under the new system, would drop from $62 a month now to $59 a month. The change is projected to bring 769,579 more riders to the T, while costing the system $3.5 million in potential revenue.
— The cost of weekly combination bus and subway passes would also decrease, from $18 now to $15. Rider advocates complained that it is now more expensive to buy a weekly pass four times a month ($72) than it is to buy a monthly pass ($62).
Grabauskas said weekly pass buyers often have trouble paying the up-front price of a monthly pass or like to save money by buying weekly passes during months they are on vacation and not riding the T.
The change takes away the penalty of buying weekly passes, he said. The move is expected to bring 225,000 riders back into the system.
— Children 11 and under would ride for free if they’re with a paying adult. Currently, the system gives free rides to children 5 years and younger traveling with a paying adult.
“We’re trying to encourage more ridership and a family-friendly atmosphere,” Grabauskas said.
— Commuter rail zones 1A and 1B, which border the Boston city limits, would be combined. A ride from zone 1B, now $2.50, would cost the same as a ride from zone 1A, $1.70.
The move is largely geared to help the future Fairmount commuter rail line, where the T is renovating four stations and building four more along one of Boston’s most transit-dependent corridors. The change makes the line’s fare equal to a subway ride.
Marvin Martin — director of the Four Corners Action Coalition, which supports building the Fairmount Line — said the changes do not go far enough, adding that only some Fairmount riders would get a fare equal to the subway. Others would still pay $2.50.
The lower fare “will only get you to Forest Hills,” he said. “Anything past Morton Street isn’t affected. It’s a step, but I think we’re going to try to push for more.”
T passengers interviewed yesterday also gave mixed reviews to the revised proposal.
“You’ve got to eat; you’ve got higher rents,” said Monica Jackman, 64, of Roxbury. “The increase is too much.”
“I think it’s terrible, because there are a lot of people who can’t afford these things,” she added. “Right now, I can’t afford it, but I have to buy it.”
Judith Reynolds — the vendor of Positively Positive Vibrations, an oil-and-incense store that sits just outside the Orange Line stop at Downtown Crossing — worried that higher fares will mean fewer passengers and fewer customers for her.
Reynolds, who travels by bus and train from her Dorchester home, also isn’t happy with her 90-minute commute.
“Service, quite frankly, especially the bus service, is terrible,” said Reynolds, 48. “They’re overloaded. They’re late.”
But 18-year-old Antonio Pino, who grew up in Medford, thinks the hike increase is necessary.
“The price of everything is going up across the board,” said Pino, a first-year student at Harvard University. “It’s only expected. As far as people on a limited income, I think it’s a reasonable price to pay.”