T fares could go up at least 35% as service is cut

Is it inherently necessary that the person running the MBTA advocate for passing the pain onto the public as opposed to openly advocating that the state fix its funding situation?

Is it because their ability to move up the ranks of state politics requires that they not tip the tea kettle of reality? The State House decided to put the MBTA on this crash course with its debt load by agreeing to completely asinine extrapolated budgetary numbers over 10 years ago now. They have not ONCE been forced to recognize the abject failure of their predecessors (unless you count last year's bailout from the sales tax increase that they paid the MBTA to close that "one time" budget hole). It's time for reality to be the key point here. It's time for the State House to revisit the stupidity that led the MBTA to want to jack up its fares while decreasing service.

I guess I can still maintain a little solace in the fact that we're grown up enough not to be blaming the Carmen's Union for the budget situation like other parts of this great nation of ours has done when public budgets don't line up with revenue. However, it won't matter how much they raise fares or cut service until they recognize WHY revenue isn't matching expenditure here. It's the most messed up funding situation of ANY public transit system in the US (as I recall from one analysis done about 2 years ago).

The legislature had better get the MBTA funding back on the right track and soon.

The MBTA is accepting public comments electronically at fareproposal(.at.)mbta.com.

Here's what I sent to them:

To whom it may concern:

It doesn't matter if you boost fares through the roof or cut all of your service. Both are small bandages on the wound of "Forward Funding" that the state legislature has hobbled the Authority with since 2000. Until this becomes the talking point, all increased fares and reduced service do are pass the pain onto the portion of the public that cannot afford to bear that burden these days. The MBTA will continue to fail gradually...and then suddenly.

The public MUST be rallied to understand that it needs to pressure the State House to fix the Authority's funding situation and return the debt load back into the state's more capable hands and off of the MBTA's books. The extrapolated rate of state sales tax presented in 2000 was a pipe dream (and not even a very realistic one at the time even). The fact that this has essentially remained unvisited by the legislature is one of the greatest failures of our state's government over the past 10 years.

The public, especially those outside of the MBTA service area, are never going to be made aware of the reality of how badly "Forward Funding" and the Big Dig debt transfer from the 2000 legislation without the Authority being the ones to bring these facts to light themselves. It's time for the MBTA to stop acting as if it's going to fund-raise its way out of its financial situation. No amount of abusing patrons with advertising, robbing the average person's wallet for fare money, or deleting much-needed services is going to do anything other than make the system solvent for a meaningless amount of time further until the next time these same bells are rung for the following year. You are patching one hole and should be fully capable of realizing there are more holes coming sooner rather than later.

Please become the advocate that is needed to pressure the legislature into fixing the problem at its source. Get the Big Dig debt put back on the state's budget where it belonged all along. Get the MBTA budget paid by the state as one of those essential services the state should be providing no matter the cost and not some constrained amount artificially reliant on sales tax revenue as if that's relevant to public transportation in any way.

Please work to fix the most glaring problem that anyone who has taken a modicum of effort to understand the situation can see. You are probably the only one who can make this happen.

This is exactly the way the last round of fare increases happened:

Start out with outrageous increases and service cuts.

Hold a lot of hearings.

End up with something that looks a lot better.

"List of cuts at other large transit systems (.rtf format)"

Ah yes, the race to the bottom strategy.

"if that shithole over there managed to cut their service, then why shouldnt we?"

Why not? I mean, Sacramento cut all transit service from 1am to 10pm. If they can do it, why not us? Miami runs trains every 30 minutes. Look at what a paradise they are! Let's be Miami!

And look at London, why their ticket fare is something like $8, why not us?

Hell, Arlington Texas has ZERO public transit, not even a bus. If they can do it, so can we!

Isn't it wonderful when we race to the bottom? What ever happened to, you know, trying to be better than others, and outdo other cities to try and attract investment and such.

Can you imagine ever hearing the following:

"Mexico City charges 21 CENTS a ride, and their subways run every 90 seconds, maybe we should try that"

Of course not.

And also, wasn't the sales tax hike supposed to pay for the MBTA for awhile?

The "fares havent been raised for 5 years" is a massive lie. Fares were raised, we just pay for it every time we buy something or go out to eat.

Instead of cutting service this drastically, the MBTA should spread the pain upward to the 1% by defaulting at least partially on its unsustainable debt. Let the hedge fund owners take a hit for a change.

I'm curious what the MBTA expects to get out of the hearings. Are they looking for alternative ideas? Modifications to the two current proposals? Buy-in on one or the other of the two proposals?

What happens if the overwhelming public reaction is "Neither is acceptable"?

Are there really any options here?

Who needs T management to cut service when today's weather seems to be doing the same.

Disabled trains on the Red, Blue and Green lines, and lots of commuter rails delays because of "inclement weather". Inclement weather? It's winter, single digits happen.