The Boston City Council agreed today to look at withholding the more than $85 million the city coughs up for T service every year until the T can meet performance guidelines that would be set after public hearings across the city.
Councilor Althea Garrison (at large) proposed the hearing because, she said, the T is looking at increasing fares for a system that she said remains biased in favor of richer suburbs instead of poor urban neighborhoods, in particular in Boston.
Garrison's proposal won the quick approval of Councilor Michelle Wu (at large), who has been visiting T stations of late to collect signatures against the fare increase, now scheduled to go into effect this summer. The fare increase is "regressive, backwards for so many reasons," including the potential to increase car traffic and its resultant pollution, she said.
Councilors Frank Baker, Lydia Edwards, Annissa Essaibi-George, Ed Flynn, Kim Janey, Josh Zakim, Andrea Campbell and Wu signed on as co-sponsors of the measure.
Campbell said she would forward the measure to the council's committee on planning, development and transportation, which Wu chairs, to consider alongside measures Wu has proposed to force better service out of the T.
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Then what happens when the T
By anon
Wed, 02/27/2019 - 6:24pm
Then what happens when the T stops service in Boston due to nonpayment?
This strikes me as a chicken
By anon
Wed, 02/27/2019 - 6:26pm
This strikes me as a chicken and egg situation.
Do they need to make it better before getting the money?
Or
Do they need the money to make it better?
What is Baker doing for the
By Ebony ivory
Thu, 02/28/2019 - 7:26am
What is Baker doing for the MBTA besides making it lose money? The public and legislators should be pressuring him to increase funging to the mbta. It’s a public agency. It’s equally important as healthcare and education.
FYI: Baker is trying to
By Perry Jamison
Thu, 02/28/2019 - 1:59pm
FYI: Baker is trying to reform how the T does business before perhaps finding more money for it. Given that the state budget is stuck in a structural deficit modality, such is about the only viable option. Plus, throwing money at a problem withouf also fixing the casual problems is usually money wasted.
Bon Chance
By Perry Jamison
Thu, 02/28/2019 - 1:01pm
For some funny reason, I doubt the City of Boston or any other MBTA payment paying communities can hold up paying their assessments to the T.
Also, at the end of the day all of the moaning and groaning is over a basically but rate of inflation increase. Nice photo op opportunity, however.
While I expect to suffer slings, arrows and worse on the later point, at the end of the day a but rate of inflation increase is not unreasonable.
Plus, the far bigger elephant in the room is that it is well past time to address the T's seriously underfunded employee pension fund.
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