Councilors to try again to get the T to adjust commuter-rail fares in Boston

I'm sure the MBTA itself isn't excited about the prospect of reducing fares anywhere at the moment, so here's my crazy (and admittedly not fully thought-out) idea: what if the city used some extra revenue from demand pricing at smart parking meters to subsidize commuter rail fares at Boston's zone 1 & 2 stations? It seems like this would give the city some levers to pull when it comes to balancing demand for parking and transit - if the commuter rail is so expensive that it's giving people an incentive to drive in and that's causing congestion, make parking a little more expensive and the train a little less expensive to see if you can ease that congestion a bit. I'm sure that parking meter money is earmarked for something else or the dollar figures don't work out or something, but is the idea so unreasonable?

There is a simple solution to this problem that I suggested in my comments submitted to the MBTA during the 2012 fare increase. I intend to submit it yet again during the public comment period now ongoing.

Redefine Zone 1A as all stations within 11.82 track miles from North and South Stations. I picked 11.82 miles as that is the distance from Park Street to Braintree via the Red Line. The 11.82 mile limit would include areas that are roughly the same distance from Downtown Boston as the farthest rapid transit station; but due to various shenanigans over the last 70 years have yet to see any subway extensions. The 11.82 mile limit falls perfectly into the 175-year-old practice of defining fare zones and setting ticket prices based on the distances from the Boston terminals. It also responds to the complaints about one line or group of neighborhoods seemingly getting special treatment. Stations in largely working-class places like Lynn would see a ticket and pass price cut. Such "discounts" would encourage additional ridership, particularly during non-peak times. Would it not be better railroading and better for the MBTA bottom line to have ALL cars of a 5- or 6-car train actually being filled? If after one year there has been a noticeable mode-shift (i.e. most folks find it faster and more convenient to take the Commuter Rail from Lynn to Boston on a Sunday versus the Route 455 to Wonderland, thence the Blue Line) reallocate resources to meet any outstanding, unmet needs on the bus system.

/END RANT/

1) The MBTA is a state agency, not under the city's jurisdiction. Thus municipal boundaries are irrelevant.

2) Commuter rail fares are based on distance from downtown Boston. Boston as a city is very oddly-shaped, with huge swaths of the southwestern suburbs annexed as part of the city, and thus municipal boundaries are fairly meaningless.

3) Lets look at some numbers!

Hyde Park is 7.6 miles as the crow flies from South Station. It is in Zone 1 ($5.75). Other Zone 1 stations include Quincy Center (7.4 miles from SS), Belmont (6.2 miles from NS), and Wedgemere (6.7 miles from NS). Seems fairly consistent.

Roslindale Village is 6.5 miles as the crow flies from South Station. It is also in Zone 1, consistent with the above stations.

Readville is 8.8 miles as the crow flies from South Station. It is in Zone 2 ($6.25). Other Zone 2 stations include Braintree (10.4 miles), West Newton (8.9 miles), Waltham (8.9 miles), Anderson/Woburn (10.25 miles), Greenwood (8.0 miles), and Lynn (8.9 miles). Again, this seems very consistent.

The Fairmount line is all Zone 1A to try and encourage ridership on the underutilized line. This is artificially low, and most of the line really should be Zone 1 based on distance. So rather than arguing that Readville riders should pay less based on Fairmount fares, we should be arguing that Fairmount riders should pay more based on Readville fares. The Fairmount Station lot wouldn't fill up as quickly if the train fare from there were not artificially lowered.

Forest Hills should remain Zone 1A to be consistent with the other subway - commuter rail transfer points around the system (Malden, JFK/UMass, Ruggles, Porter). If Forest Hills was actually Zone 1, for example, a rider from Zone 2 could theoretically buy an Interzone 2 pass ($105) plus a subway pass ($75) instead of a Zone 2 pass ($198), getting off at Forest Hills and transferring to the Orange Line to save money. As long as Forest Hills is Zone 1A, no money is saved by transferring from the commuter rail to the subway there, meaning commuter rail riders have little incentive to transfer there if their destination is downtown, keeping that Orange Line capacity available for local riders.

Now you may be asking "but what about Quincy Center and Braintree? They're not Zone 1A!" And you're correct - they're not. However, as pointed out above, their distances from South Station are consistent with being in Zones 1 and 2, and really the Red Line should have higher fares down here like it used to. Red Line riders are getting a bargain by being able to travel that far on a subway fare.

Essentially, the stations are in the fare zones they're in for good reason, and residents of Roslindale, Hyde Park, West Roxbury, etc. are not special because they technically live in Boston rather than a suburb.

Now I will admit the T could do something to address the huge jump in commuter rail fares compared to subway fares, but it should also be recognized that this is standard practice. Look at other cities with flat rate subway and distance-based CR fares and you'll find the same thing.