Happy Fare Increase Day!

I was at Downtown Crossing heading home from work late last week and it was over 90 degrees so I asked him if the Red Line was running on schedule and he said yes. He asked me why I asked and I said that whenever it gets over 90 degrees or under 20 degrees, the Red Line breaks down. He laughed and that I was close. He and his colleagues call the Red Line the "20, 80 Line" because it breaks down if it's less than 20 degrees or over 80 degrees.

True story.

24-hour service?

By thetrainmon
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 12:57pm

Express-and-local trains?

Plowed-out bus stops when the snow piles up?

No more complete meltdowns of North Station during rush hour because "All the Inbound trains are running behind" despite the fact that there are at any one time at least thirty usable cars and ten usable locomotives just sitting in the Somerville Yard?

A North Station-South Station shuttle train?

A Red Line-Blue Line connection?

39 buses that don't run three-in-a row on Sunday?

70 buses that go past Waltham Center after 11:00 pm since, you know, not everybody lives right in the CENTER of Waltham?

Helpful, coherent Customer Service Agents who don't hide in their little booths reading a book while your swearing at the fare gate?

Just checking.

Stop complaining

By anon
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 4:58pm

EVERYONE! The pass cost about the same before the CharlieCard was introduced. Have we already forgotten? And nice dream list, but until people realize that the T doesn't run on hopes and dreams, never gonna happen.

My girlfriend's also

By anon
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 9:28am

My girlfriend's also celebrating losing her monthly pass to an expired CharlieCard today, despite having used said CharlieCard twice a day, every day all last month (and having put the now-$70 pass on her card within the past three days). Whatever happened to extending the expiration date for frequent users (per the Globe, January 1, 2012)? Instead, the fare box has just been beeping at her funny the past few weeks, and none of the bus drivers knew that meant a card was expiring (a training problem, on top of all the other problems with this situation).

I'm usually a defender of the MBTA, but their terrible response to these expired cards is borderline criminal. Any other business would be considered to be committing fraud if it sold you merchandise (a pass) without telling you that you cannot use it immediately until "activating" it at another office several miles away (the Downtown Crossing pass office).

Did it it wipe out the past

By anon
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 9:58am

Did it it wipe out the past month? That's what happened to me a few months back. I bought the next month's link pass as early as I could and afterwards the current month's pass was gone like it never existed. I brought it to the attention of the T but they wouldn't do anything without my receipt from the current month (which at that point was 25-30 days old). Had to buy a 7 day pass to get through the rest of the month.

"fare box has just been

By anon
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 6:28pm

"fare box has just been beeping at her funny the past few weeks, and none of the bus drivers knew that meant a card was expiring"

Who told you that a funny beep meant the card was about to expire? I've been following the issue, and I never heard about that.

Can you describe the funny beep?

I never thought I'd be one of

By Karl G.
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 10:57am

I never thought I'd be one of "those people" who actually can't afford to ride the T as much as I would if I could pull off the $70 for a pass. Instead, I walk - a lot. ($70 is two weeks of groceries for me.)

It still strikes me as bizarre that people who have full-time jobs at companies with big HR departments can using pre-tax dollars to pay for their cards, thus avoiding FICA and Social Security tax, while Joe Rider who buys his pass at the kiosk doesn't get that benefit. Gotta love the tax loopholes for the well-heeled.

I'd like to see them offer a

By anon
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 12:09pm

I'd like to see them offer a year long pass with a steep discount.

What you describe, that is a

By Cripes
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 4:46pm

What you describe, that is a "benefit" the employer subsidizes.* It has nothing to do with the T's fare structure. A middleman authorized by the T and contracted by the employer batch processes automated pass renewals.

I know very few "well-heeled" people who ride the T on a daily basis. In fact I know none.

Cripes

* A "benefit" usually provided at the expense of higher wages, btw.

According to passenger surveys

By Matthew
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 7:07pm

On all the commuter rail lines but Fairmount and Middleborough, the majority of riders make $100,000 or more household income.

Of course, making lots of money does not automatically make someone "well-heeled."

We can debate this for days but

By Nancy
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 10:16pm

in this city, making $100,000 does not make you well heeled. It makes you middle class.

Yep.

By issacg
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 1:36pm

[this is off topic, but I couldn't resist]

And there it is, folks - the problem with the national tax debate in a nutshell.

A household income of $100K, or for that matter, $200K (or some other arbitrary cutoff amount), makes you wealthy in a lot of America, but not in the northeastern megalopolis (or a few other selected areas). Accordingly, we could be forgiven for telling people from areas that are net beneficiaries of our federal income tax largesse to STFU, or at least say thank you.

At least Grover is from Weston, so he knows a little bit about that which he speaks (even if his approach leaves much to be desired). I would find his message far more offensive if he was from Mississippi, for example.

The federal government could easily rectify this problem by applying the locality/col pay scale it has adopted for its workforce to the income tax code. Of course, we would soon realize that this would destroy the country.

Not even close to "lots of money"

By merlinmurph
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 9:25am

$100K ain't what it used to be, is not a lot of money, and it certainly isn't well-heeled. Cops, firefighters and teachers (when calculated on an annual basis) can all make $100K+ plus over-the-top benefits. A lot of kids leaving engineering schools are getting starting salaries over $70K, and will soon be over the 100K mark.

I'd love to read this survey,

By anon
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 3:52pm

I'd love to read this survey, if you can find a link to it. I take the Newburyport/Rockport line every day, and outside of the more popular rush-hour trains the clientele does not smack of middle to upper-middle class, at all. It's tourists (in the summer) and working-class and working-poor people. I'd imagine it is very much the same on the Lowell and Haverhill lines.

Some people seem to be under the impression that only well-to-do folk use the commuter rail, but that's BS. Chelsea, Lynn, Salem, Lawrence, Haverhill, and Lowell have large populations of people who could only dream of living in tony Somerville, Cambridge, and half of Boston.

From CTPS website

By Matthew
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 6:14pm

Link to survey. In particular, check out the Commuter Rail volume chapter 9: Socioeconomic Characteristics.

I made a mistake above, Newburyport/Rockport should have been grouped with Middleborough and Fairmount at about 40% of the riders over $100,000:
...
$75,000 - $99,999 1,321 19.6%
$100,000 or more 2,735 40.6%

The others are all over 50% however, including Greenbush which has 70% of riders making $100,000+ household income. The surveys are nearly 4 years old now, so make of that what you will.

"Household Income"

By Nancy
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 8:54pm

$100,000+ household income

Household income could mean a husband and wife living together making $50k/year each. That's not a lot of money around these here parts.

Take it up with CTPS

By Matthew
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 9:18pm

Next time they do their survey, they can put a better breakdown on it.

Not subsidized, just paperwork

By KellyJMF
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 9:01am

My employer doesn't kick in any part of my T pass. I get enough taken out of my paycheck to cover a monthly pass and it gets loaded on a debit card, which I then use to pay for my pass. The money comes out pre-tax, but it's all my money. The benefit is the tax savings.

You can take the cost of your

By Em
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 6:06pm

You can take the cost of your mbta passes off your taxes at the end of the year. I know its not as nice as having it taken out of your paycheck pretax, but you do get the same amount back at the end of the year as you would have if it had been taken out before taxes. (I did it for years before I started working at a firm that took it out of my paycheck)

tax loopholes for the well- heeled?

By deadheadtyler
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 8:48am

I get my monthly Link pass pre tax through my employer. I make less than 40k per year. Apologies for working for a large company.

Or even a well-organized company

By Nonymouse
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 9:33am

I worked for a non-profit in Boston too small to have a dedicated HR person and they still managed to get us our passes pre-tax. It isn't hard.

Although, if you're working for a company that doesn't give you the option and you haven't told them it would make a difference to you, I don't have much sympathy. Especially since you can get the same benefit, dollar wise, on your taxes at the end of the year.

Link pass a baragain, commuter rail pass NOT a bargain

By anon
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 11:42am

@ $70./mth, $18./wk, unlimited bus/subway travel is a bargain.

What's not a bargain is commuter rail. Commuter rail cost a mint. And like I posted previously, anything aside from zone 1A [where a subway/bus link pass can be used] has seen an OBSCENE price increase. Going from zone 1A to 1 [example: Getting on/off at Hyde Park, Roslindale Sq., any one of the W.R. stops] as opposed to forest hills, will mean you'll pay $103. more dollars a month! The Readville/Fairmont commuter rail line stops in Mattapan and Dorchester likewise are all zoned as 1A, meaning people who egt on there pay $103. less per month for a pass as opposed to those who have the audacity to get on in hoity toity Hyde Park down the road.

Zone 1 vs Zone 1A

By Ron Newman
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 12:57pm

Also, if you're travelling OUTBOUND from a Zone 1A station (such as West Medford or Porter Square), you pay a huge amount more than if you travel outbound from the next Zone 1 station a couple miles away:

West Medford to Lowell (Zone 6): $8.75 single-ride, $275 monthly pass
Wedgmere to Lowell (Inter-Zone 6): $4.50 single-ride, $151 monthly pass

Porter Square to Fitchburg (Zone 8): $10 single-ride, $314 monthly pass
Belmont to Fitchburg (Inter-Zone 8): $5.50 single-ride, $184 monthly pass

Forest Hills to Needham (Zone 2): $6 single-ride, $189 monthly pass
Roslindale to Needham (Inter-Zone 2): $3 single-ride, $100 monthly pass

If you have a bicycle and live near one of these Zone 1A stations, you save a boatload of money by biking to the next Zone 1 station instead before boarding the train. Ditto for returning -- get off at the Zone 1 station instead of staying on to the Zone 1A station.

The 2007 fare change simultaneously raised regular commuter rail fares and LOWERED "inter-zone" fares. Today's fare change increases the disparity a bit more.

(By the way, why didn't the T take this opportunity to change "Zone 1A" to the more logical "Zone 0" ?)

(By the way, why didn't the

By Saul
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 3:36pm

(By the way, why didn't the T take this opportunity to change "Zone 1A" to the more logical "Zone 0" ?)

Because that'd require changing the zone designations on the ticket machines, which the T is apparently incapable of doing (see zones 9 and 10).

T is still a relative bargain

By anon
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 3:21pm

$11 more a month - for *unlimited* rides on bus/subway - is easily less then one average cab ride in this city. next year, however, who knows how much worse we will see.

we all need to step up pressure on the legislature for rational, reasonable infrastructure funding. if they keep acting like buffoons, this situation is going to implode (neglect and decay of not only public transportation, but roads and bridges as well).

the T wants to *expand* public transportation (GLX, South Coast Rail), but can barely keep the existing service going because of the funding policies and amounts dreamed up by part-time legislators who cannot see the forest of Massachusetts' entire transportation system for the trees (and votes) in their districts.

A better public transport system keeps more people off the roads, but it seems to be drivers who always scream bloody murder when the T gets a red cent, and then complain about traffic. It's in your best interest, too, road rager!

Cab vs. NYC bus

By karenz
Sun, 07/01/2012 - 11:25pm

$11 more a month - for *unlimited* rides on bus/subway - is easily less then one average cab ride in this city.

I will never, never understand the economics behind why $20 will barely get you through 2-3 neighborhoods in Boston via taxi but will also buy you a 4 hours trip to NYC via BoltBus and the like. Simply boggles the mind.

Economies of scale

By Matthew
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 12:02am

Leaving aside the weird medallion and pricing issues with Boston cabs; there's fixed costs associated with operating a vehicle that do not increase with vehicle size. The biggest factor is driver pay -- which doesn't really have much to do with how many passengers are being carried. There are different licensing requirements here and there, but the point is that hiring someone to drive 50 people is not 5x as expensive as hiring someone to drive 10 people. It's about the same. The increased fuel costs aren't significant enough to make a huge difference either.

So, that BoltBus could be making $20*50=$1000 revenue easily. Even if you pay the driver $400 (probably too much) and fuel is $120 (estimated), then you're still left with $480 to play with on tolls, maintenance, insurance, South Station fees, discounted tickets and profits. And BoltBus doesn't have to pay for maintenance-of-way like railroads do; the Feds and the states largely subsidize the roads the buses use.

Now consider the taxi: you've got most of those costs (fuel is less, presumably, but now you've got the medallion owner's cut to pay) but no more than a few people can share them.

But the medallion is the

By anon
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 6:26pm

But the medallion *is* the biggest cost.

A large proportion of Boston medallions are owned by one guy. Most drivers either lease their medallions from him, or get a loan from him to buy their own medallion.

Since he has this virtual monopoly, we're all paying to make him richer. Costs like gas, the car, and take-home pay for the driver are secondary.

NYC doesn't have this problem with medallion hoarding, so cabs there are about half the price of here.