Hey, there! Log in / Register

Menino opposes MBTA fare increases

Says the state should raise the gas tax instead (which, of course, isn't going to be happening anytime soon), Wicked Local Allston/Brighton reports:

... The proposed 19.5 percent fare increase is an unsustainable cost for many Boston residents. In addition, service cuts have been proposed on many evening and weekend routes, as well as those routes that have experienced lower ridership. However, these routes are often the only option for many residents who work evening or weekend shifts and do not have any other reliable forms of transportation. ...

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

I believe we should increase fares and increase the gas tax. It is only fair that the MBTA users pay their share but I understand the want and need for expanded mass transit so as a driver am willing to pay extra as well to ensure more of you stay on the MBTA system and keep the roads clear for me lol.

up
Voting closed 0

Well, the way I see it, the gas tax is like another tax to discourage unhealthy practices, such as use of tobacco and alcohol, only in this case for environmental rather than personal health reasons.

Also, as far as I know, the gas tax has not been raised in quite a few years, the big dig tunnels and bridges are free, and the pike tolls will not be raised, so drivers are already getting a deal.

up
Voting closed 0

There's nothing unhealthy about commuting to work so that one can earn a living to pay the rent, pay for health insurance, and so on and so forth. Do you need to smoke cigarettes in order to earn a living? I don't think so. Do you need to drink alcohol to get through the work day? I hope not!

up
Voting closed 0

I didn't intend to equate driving with smoking and drinking. Obviously many people have no choice but to drive. I myself drive to work, except when I bike once in a while, and my employer is not located near any public transportation. I still think though that public transportation should be taxed less as it encourages practices that are good for the environment, etc.

up
Voting closed 0

Theres nothing unhealthy about commuting to work, but it is unhealthy to commute in a car, compared to on foot or on a bike.

" but I cant commute by foot or bike, I live too far away!"

Theres a hidden government subsidy right there. The government built a road out to the middle of nowhere, allowing you to pay less for your land. The government has taken on the cost of construction, maintenence and plowing for you to live in a nice cheap area. By doing this, the government has encouraged you to pollute, cause congestion, and live an unhealthy life.

By raising the gas tax, we finally make you pay for the subsidies youve been receiving all these years.

up
Voting closed 0

While you may have a point about the sin tax issue I can assure you drivers are not getting a deal relative to MBTA riders. Each MBTA ride is much more subsidized then the average car ride and the system has many people freeloading on it either via jumping the turnstyles or people getting reduced rates for numerous reasons. I am not saying this is a good or a bad thing but it is a fact.

up
Voting closed 0

I'm wondering how you get that fact that "each MBTA ride is much more subsidized than the average car ride." Do you have any numbers to point to, or is that just your general feel of things?

I don't have many numbers to point to either, BTW. A few, maybe: Big Dig: $22 billion. MBTA non-operating revenue: <$1 billion annually.

So one Big Dig is about 22 years of MBTA subsidy? And the Central Tunnel gets maybe 200K drivers daily whereas the MBTA gets over a million? Kinda makes me get the general feel that the subsidy is a bit higher over on the car side.

up
Voting closed 0

How about the fact that the MBTA is servicing Big Dig (i.e. VEHICULAR) debt on the backs of people who are not driving. Didn't I just read somewhere that 30% of fares go to paying off that debt. That's pretty shady, and as a "patron" of the MBTA, I'm tired of subsidizing drivers.

Modest fare increases indexed to inflaction or cost of living are acceptable. Balancing the roads budget of the state are unacceptable.

up
Voting closed 0

There are many hidden subsidies associated with cars. One of the bigger ones I seem to remember is free parking. When you drive your car to a store with a parking lot, you can park your car for free. However, it certainly is not free for the store to maintain the parking lot, nor is the land free. The cost is factored into the price of the products, regardless of whether you actually drove there or not. Non-drivers are forced to cover this cost as well. Employers outside of the city usually provide free parking for their employees, the true cost of which comes out of their salary. Also, street parking on public ways is usually free or nearly free (at least for residents), despite the value of the land the car occupies.

I don't believe that all road and highway maintenance, construction, and police enforcement costs come out of the gas tax either.

up
Voting closed 0

Dont forget the hidden cost to people not in the car.

Drivers dont pay a dime for all the ehaust they reduce into the atmosphere, hurting everyone around them. Not to mention the noise pollution.

up
Voting closed 0

Though it probably wouldn't have the same monetary effect as a gas tax, increasing the MBTA fares and thus swaying more people to drive to work will lead to more traffic as we know. More traffic equals more idling and wasted gas. In essence raising the MBTA fares has a similar monetary(though not likely similar in magnitude) impact on drivers that a gas tax would.

Adding a gas tax could influence more people to take the MBTA who would normally drive to work. I for one work in the suburbs, but at a place that is MBTA accessible. If gas was higher I may be tempted to take the MBTA to work more often than I already do. If fares rise too much though, I may not give up the convenience of my car because the economics won't make much sense.

up
Voting closed 0

However, these routes are often the only option for many residents who work evening or weekend shifts and do not have any other reliable forms of transportation.

"do not have any other reliable forms of transportation"...ie, a car?

What a polite politispeak way of saying "people who don't have cars because the cost of insurance, taxes, fees, parking/speeding tickets are prohibitively expensive and there's nowhere to park anyway."

up
Voting closed 0