Can Bostonians save the T?

T CFO Davis

Transit and environmental groups will ask local subway riders on Thursday to urge their legislators to support a gas-tax increase that would include money for the T, in a leafletting campaign at Boston T stops - and South Station.

But even as they work to counter rising anger in the western part of the state over alleged money-grubbing by Boston, the groups were failing tonight to get specifics from T officials on just how bad T service cuts could be without extra state funding, which they said will make it harder to convince people to pick up the phone.

At a meeting of the MBTA's Rider Oversight Committee tonight, T CFO Jonathan Davis said it's just too early to discuss specific cuts - even though any cuts would go into effect with a fiscal year that starts July 1. Davis said the only thing he knows for sure is that the T is facing a $160-million deficit. Media reports have cited specific cuts the T is considering - such as the elimination of weekend commuter-rail service, but Davis said the authority has yet to give the state Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) any data with which to plan specific changes. He did acknowledge that without any state aid, the T will be looking at "fairly deep service cuts and fairly significant fare increases" - and for at least two years. He said the T is also waiting on more definitive action from the legislature on the gas tax and other proposals that could affect the authority's $1.6-billion budget.

Transit advocates at the meeting pleaded with Davis for specifics with which to convince T riders of the urgency of pressuring their legislators to approve a gas tax increase with a dedicated set-aside for the T - in an amount that Davis said could cover that projected deficit.

Michelle McMurtry of the T Riders Union said she needs those specifics to counter the sort of reactions she's already getting when telling people about possible fare increases and service cuts: "I've had people swear at me. It's going to be ugly. ... People are not listening because they are in denial."

"The sooner people know realistically what they're facing, the sooner they will be likely to rally," committee member Wig Zamore said.

Committee member Donna Purin said talk of sharp cuts in nighttime and weekend service will especially hit people with no alternatives - people with two jobs or who work late shifts, not to mention students.

Davis said that when the T and CTPS do begin looking at services to cut, they would take such things into account

"We don't like this, we don't want to decimate public transportation," because good public transit is the lifeblood of not just the Boston area, but the whole state, Davis said. "If you want to be a world class city with a world class standing, you need first class transit. ... But we may have no option."