Mayor Walsh thundered on Twitter today:
There should be no fare increase until the Red Line is fixed.
The MBTA must act with urgency and it's unfair to ask riders to pay more until the Red Line is fully operational.
He also agreed with at-large City Councilor Michelle Wu that Boston should gain representation again on the board that oversees the T.
Wu, meanwhile, has been tweeting today that not only should the T rescind the planed July 1 fare increases, the state should be looking for new revenue sources to make the T decent again, including various fees and tolls for users of the state's roadways.
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Comments
Leadership in action
By Parkwayne
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:02pm
Wu leads, Marty follows after his business backers tell him to jump in line.
Maybe we should have elected Marty F Walsh, the cousin yells obscenities at people in public meetings. At least, he has some passion for the work.
Wu is the next mayor of Boston
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 6:39pm
Guaranteed
Worked for both Menino & Warren
By anon²
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 8:32pm
Worked for both Menino & Warren
By anon²
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 8:32pm
Worked for both Menino & Warren
By anon²
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 8:33pm
Worked for both Menino & Warren
By anon²
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 8:33pm
Shes got my vote
She might be. The Globe
By RalphM
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 9:12pm
She might be. The Globe pushing her isn’t a good sign though. Ask Mayor John Connolly.
Marty hit a bullseye. Smells blood
By anon
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 2:36pm
No Checks and Balances at the T ~ Marty Walsh
Only a week or two late...
By fungwah
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:04pm
Was he waiting for the polling to come in? Or did he have to check with his donors first to make sure he wasn't stepping on any toes?
Yes.
By Coyote137
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:15pm
That is correct.
Yes.
By Coyote137
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:15pm
That is correct.
Hey
By MostlyHarmless
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 5:40pm
In the words of another great New England mayor, the toe you step on today may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow.
Dear Baker, Listen to Walsh. Fire Pollack
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:08pm
Mayor Walsh's position on the T is the majority position. Your patronage Soviet-esque transport leaders have failed you. Do what's right. Clean house. Focus on repair. Then consider fare increases
Pollack?
By BostonDog
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:40pm
She's following orders. Baker's administration never wanted to spend a dime and simply hoped that between shiny new trains (belatedly ordered under Patrick) and things like the "Fiscal Control Board" they'd be able dupe the public into thinking something is happening.
And it's worked based on Baker's popularity.
You got it B-A-C-K-W-A-R-D-S. Baker takes orders from Pollack
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 6:42pm
Welcome to the world of family political donations
eh yeah? Pollack. MassDOT's very own Luis Ramirez
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 7:08pm
Both Stephanie Pollack and Luis Ramirez have one big thing in common. They have zero, cero, 0.0, years of professional transportation experience between them.
Pollack isn't the problem
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 4:20pm
Baker's ties to the Koch Bros war on public infrastructure that doesn't profit them personally is the problem.
Ditto for the Low and Petty Court that has refused to show leadership or action on the subject.
Pollack picked Ramirez & Poftak. She IS the problem
By anon
Wed, 06/19/2019 - 2:32pm
You need an engineer as your transportation secretary, who will then pick other engineers to run projects
Once again, I’ll note
By Waquiot
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 6:14pm
Pollack doesn’t run the T.
Unless you misspelled the name of the General Manager of the T. It’s Poftak. Poftak.
Pollack?!
By Jon Carry
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 8:48pm
Who is Pollack?!
I don't think
By Karl
Wed, 06/19/2019 - 9:02am
Faker cares anyway. He will comtinue to cater to the car drivers from outside 495 and especially in the 413 area code. HE still refuses to ride the T anyway. At least Marty is now taking a stand.
I hate to break it to you
By Waquiot
Wed, 06/19/2019 - 12:51pm
But inside of 495, most of the commuters get to work by driving. May even be true within Route 128, but I wouldn't wager big money on the claim.
Also, I don't think you realize how few people live in the 413. Not to run them down, but you can easily ignore them and get elected statewide.
Hey Marty
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:10pm
A little late. My increased July pass was already pulled from my bi-monthly check, like lots of other pass holders.
But you know that.
How about no more development
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:11pm
How about no more development until the T is fixed and there's sufficient capacity to serve the planned population increase. Tax the bikes too, no free lunch.
News flash
By Coyote137
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:20pm
People who ride bikes pay income and sales taxes, and the wear and tear on roads from bikes is...minimal. We’re also not going to stop generating new housing units in a supply crunch, but I imagine it’d be no sweat off your ass if rents continue to skyrocket.
No
By RalphM
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:20pm
Congrats on proposing “solutions” worse than anything Walsh would even come up with.
I would express concern
By erik g
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 4:10pm
at the possibility that you actually vote for the moronic ideas you spout in public, but I’m pretty confident that anyone who thinks taxes on bikes will fix the T is someone who can’t follow a map to a polling station.
No free lunch, eh?
By spin_o_rama
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 4:25pm
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/...
Streets and highways carry
By anon
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 9:41am
Streets and highways carry infrastructure and right of ways for utility conveyance. How is this cost apportioned to the non car driving beneficiaries ?
We pay for the goods and services it supports
By spin_o_rama
Wed, 06/19/2019 - 2:56pm
If you wanna find the numbers that show non-driving citizens are benefiting in an unfair way from this, be my guest. You also need to factor in that highways are exclusive to those that have legal motor vehicles to travel on them, roads and paths that bikes ride are shared with many other mobility options.
And of course, the economic argument for bike infra has been made over and over and over and over and over again.
https://www.citylab.com/solutions/2015/03/the-comp...
Next.
Pay for the goods and services it supports?
By Waquiot
Thu, 06/20/2019 - 11:46am
Couldn’t that be used as an argument against the gas tax, since motor vehicle users also pay sales and income taxes (at least in Massachusetts)?
How about fixing the problem
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 5:16pm
How about fixing the problem of MA road maintenance and construction costs being 5x what ME, NH, and VT (which all have harsher winters w/ more frost heaves) pay?
Infrastructure maintenance spending since the early 1970s hasn't kept up with exponentially ballooning costs from red tape and patronage.
When the Inner Belt got canceled the state highway cartel got away with recouping their lost profits by gouging everything else. The legislature has been aiding and abetting this crap ever since!
Each additional cyclist means
By anon
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 12:06am
Each additional cyclist means one more parking space or seat on the T for you.
Bike taxes
By SamWack
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 8:29am
I think bike riders should pay a tax at the pump, every time they fuel up, just like everyone else.
Flip flop Marty
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:15pm
Just a few days ago Marty was singing a different tune.
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/transportation/ba...
Just the Red Line? How about
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 3:19pm
Just the Red Line? How about every line....and don't forget the people on the commuter rail who pay a lot more to ride trains that barely work, show up, etc.
How would he have responded
By Will LaTulippe
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 4:01pm
If it was one of the lines that doesn't go by his house?
Getting whacked by the Globe this morning
By Anon105
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 4:05pm
describing his leadership, or lack thereof, on many issues so far this term as "Roughly 19 months after voters gave him a commanding reelection win, though, the mayor has, in many ways, lingered in the quiet middle" might have fueled some passion.
but "he's a car guy"
By cybah
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 5:17pm
So yeah..Michelle Wu leads, he follows.
Just remember that trucking
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 5:27pm
Just remember that trucking companies, distributers and stores will pass any increase in the various fees and tolls for users of the state's roadways to the consumer.
Citation needed
By anon²
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 8:48pm
It hasn't happened with minimum wage increases. You're going to have provide data on your claim on this one.
Yeah...the teen unemployment
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 9:53pm
Yeah...the teen unemployment rate, low margin restaurants, small independent retailers, and the proliferation of automated kiosks around the country beg to differ. There is no free lunch. The costs get passed on one way or another and people are either willing to pay or change the spending habits accordingly or businesses have to find a new way to cut costs which usually means automation, outsourcing, or decreasing quality.
$14 sandwiches
By Anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 11:16pm
Beg to differ
$14 sandwiches are morons
By adamg
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 12:38pm
I mean, if you want to spend $14 on one, knock yourself out, but I'm not going to trust what they say when it comes to minimum wages, because I can get an entire meal at McDonald's for $7 (I admit it, I eat there from time to time, they have good WiFi).
You might remember
By Waquiot
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 1:00pm
That those $7 meals used to cost $5.
(I have to admit. I practically never eat at McDonalds. Nothing against them, just a preference for Wendys. My memories come from TV ads.)
When?
By boo_urns
Wed, 06/19/2019 - 10:05am
When I was in high school, which is quickly approaching the better part of 20 years ago, I paid over $5 (more like $7.50-8.50) for a Wendy's meal, depending on which I bought (Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich was a favorite of the time). The increase you're suggesting is more likely related to general inflation than it is tied to any minimum wage increase.
Think the "meal deal"
By Waquiot
Wed, 06/19/2019 - 10:56am
The line on those were always $5, in addition to the $1 items.
Evidently you've never
By anon
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 7:18am
Evidently you've never noticed the price of gas effecting the cost of goods and services.
https://arcb.com/insights/the
By anon
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 7:20am
https://arcb.com/insights/the-logistics-of-road-to...
Marty is now woke.
By Blue Notes
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 8:06pm
I wonder when he'll grasp the connection between his building boom and the growing parking/traffic problems ? Wake up, Marty !
You stole
By DotRat4Eva
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 9:05pm
“Hizzonah” from a certain journalist and talk show host in reference to mumbles.
"local seat on the board"
By anon
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 9:34pm
The current FMCB members are mostly HBS/MIT grads. They don't sound like people living in Amherst. What exactly does Walsh mean by "local seat"? Someone he appoints?
How about no more Boston real
By anon
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 12:04am
How about no more Boston real estate tax increases due to increased property values until Boston fixes it's traffic lights and installs functional bus lanes, so the T doesn't waste so much money on buses stopped in perpetual jams?
big up michelle wu.
By schneidz
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 8:40am
big up michelle wu.
The existing infrastructure
By anon
Tue, 06/18/2019 - 9:31am
The existing infrastructure is overburdened and kaput. Yet the mantra is for more transit orientated housing development , along with increased service areas ( Southcoast , Green Line extension, and others ) . There is no more room nor money to accommodate all these schemes , not to mention education clusterfluxing .It seems everyone wants someone else to pay to fix everything. O well , maybe there is an app to be invented that will solve all this.
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