Joe Pesaturo at the MBTA passes along a letter to the T from Daniel Verinder of Jamaica Plain:

Recently, I was preparing to enter the gates at the southbound T station at Kendall when a passenger said to me, "I'm going to go through with you," meaning that they were going to enter for free on my pass. Without thinking about it, I said, "OK." But as I entered the train car, I started thinking about how unreasonable this action was. I am a big fan of public transit, including the MBTA, and I did not like the though that I had cost the MBTA money. ... Regardless of the fare-evader's economic situation, the MBTA should not be the one to suffer for their lack of funding.

So Verinder bought a CharlieTicket and sent it back to the T and made a donation to Alternatives for Community and Environment. And next time, he says, he'll pay for a CharlieTicket for somebody who wants to get in with him for free.

Kids, don't bother talking to Pahkcah02. She thinks T fares should go up.

Suddenly, Dan Grabauskas is everywhere - and not just on PA systems 'neath the streets of Boston. Today, the daring T general manager vows to go after subway fare evaders. Sure, it's roughly two years after legitimate riders first started complaining about how easy the new fare system made evasion, but better late than never. Maybe next year, he'll even figure out that people evade fares on the trolleys, too.

Mike Mennonno sees the sudden honesty about operating expenses at the T as mere groundwork laying for new fare hikes next year, now that Gov. Patrick and the legislature have made it clear they won't do anything about the T's crippling debt:

... The only question is whether it'll be thirty-five or forty percent. How does $2.30 for a single subway trip with a charlie card sound? $2.80 with a paper ticket? And bus fare of $1.75 with a card, $2.10 with cash? $79 for a monthly pass.

I'm starting a pool. Get your guesstimates in now.

Hondo reports on a fun little incident yesterday morning at Haymarket: A guy scoots through a CharlieGate without paying, under the watchful eye of a T employee, who refuses to call T police even when a paying customer asks him to:

... The other passenger basically lit into the T employee. All he had to do was call it in. But he openly said that he didn't care. ...

A growing number of cities in the U.S. and elsewhere are making their mass transit systems free to use.

The argument goes that you can't build your way out of gridlock. Either you simply run out of room to build new roads, or by building new roads you increase the number of private cars in a small area, and end up with worse gridlock than you had before spending a few billion dollars.

Fare increases reduce revenue:

Without any reform to do something about its debt payments (which now cost more than the system takes in via fares), the answer is yes, John Daley writes.

Third Decade wonders:

... My commute on the Orange Line has definitely been much faster and less crowded since the new fare structure has been in place. Are fewer people riding the system or am I just lucking out and finding trains with fewer crowds?

Jon Petitt learns today he can't bring a guest with him on the T for free anymore (although one sympathetic bus driver did let his friend on without payment).

John Daley notes the T's fare increase is timed to coincide with the formal launch of CharlieCards, which, of course, are named for the protagonist of a song who will never return, no, he'll never return, because he couldn't get offa that train after a fare increase:

... I suppose it makes sense since, just like Charlie, a lot of working people now won't have enough money to pay the fare.

More than you'll ever want to know about the song.