Unreliable service catching up with the T: Revenues down as commuters abandon it

The cycle can be reversed. This has happened in other cities. Heck, some would be surprised that it happened in Boston (if you go back to the 60s and compare ridership to now.)

Of course, I want to see the ridership numbers. The flaw in the article is that it makes the claim based on surveys that show riders question the reliability of the service. Sometimes the T is the best of a bunch of bad choices. All I know is that the Orange Line is as crowded this year as it was last year.

The fact is that many MBTA staffpeople are underworked and overpaid. It's really sickening.

They could make up for the lost revenue if they reduced fare evasions. But they aren't enforced 99% of the time. At my home station alone (Field's Corner), half the people walk through illegally, and the T employees (who see it) do nothing.

Please stop with this notion about lost revenue not being collected. Once money is put into the card, it's the T's. We've seen that when the cards expre (the T keeps your cash). The T already has money.. now they can't spend it until it is swiped at a faregate.

But to continually say the T is losing money because of fare evasion is a crock. Most cities move to Proof of Payment, which does not require every user to swipe. Spot checking and heavy fines ensures that people have the fare on their cards... but this is MA.. it's JUST starting to get traction on the green line with all door boarding.

They could also get rid of employees who sit in booths and literally do nothing. Seriously - you could stand there for hours watching them and you'd notice they do absolutely *nothing*

You are aware that these people you talk about are being replaced by a private company by people who make minimum wage?

Also, would YOU stop someone over a 2.25 fare? Nope, not worth getting maced or hurt. Let T police to do something. That is who REALLY should be working on fare evasion, not the gate staff. Not their job, not their responsibility, and frankly, not their liability.

I've seen at least one reading a bible in the little booth.

The massive amount of equipment and staff needed to collect fares that don't actually pay enough to run the system is the problem.

If the fare was Zero, more people would use it and pollution and traffic would reduce. I don't say free because of course we all pay for it, but it would attract more companies to the area.

Gov Chuck played the MBTA funding to save the big dig. He needs to sprinkle a little more of that financial magic to fix the MBTA funding.

on revenue.

The Red Line has been interrupted for a few years on weekends, and I have avoided taking the T on those occasions between Cambridge and Boston, except for this year’s Honk!/Oktoberfest.

The same goes for the Orange Line, at both ends of the line. Add in commuter rail Positive Train Control installation, Forest Hills construction, etc. and I can see why the numbers are down.

On the flip side, I see the subway as crowded as ever during many periods. The Orange Line has been running with fewer trains for a long time, meaning wait times are longer and the remaining trains are more crowded. The Red Line has also been running reduced trains on weekends on the parts that have actual service.

My biggest worry is that Baker/Pollack and crew will use these numbers as an excuse to reduce service even more, which is exactly the opposite of what they should be doing.

Improve the service and the schedule, and the riders will return.

is really screwing the public by increasing the fare hike without first fixing the various problems on the MBTA.

areas is becoming (or has become) downright dangerous.

I think it’s time that we start thinking of eliminating street parking in commercial zones, except for existing handicapped spaces. With the amount of taxi/Uber/Lyft pickups and drop offs, along with delivery vehicles, just convert meters to curbside delivery and loading/unloading zones. Use traffic enforcement to write tickets for those violators and box blockers, rather than meter tickets.

This may help traffic flow and could reduce bike lane blockage. Time to use those parking garages and/or choose a different mode of travel in the city. Maybe we can even get actual bus lanes in some areas.

Then you cannot say that T fares have doubled. You cannot index one without indexing the other.

I mean, if we really want to twist figures, the cost of a subway ride (using a Charlie Card) has gone up $1.40 since 1991. That's less than the cost increase of a copy of the Boston Globe during the same period.

As you note, Tolls on the expressway and 128 and more coming soon to a road near everyone. Can't come soon enough.