T Fares Could Jump 20 Percent This Fall

By Meghna Chakrabarti (The Third Rail)

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Transportation Secretary James Aloisi says the MBTA will fast track a 15- to 20-percent fare increase that could go into effect this fall. Aloisi says that’s because the T faces a $160-million deficit, falling advertising receipts and increased energy and fuel costs beyond what the authority originally estimated for its 2010 budget.

“I want to solve for several years,”Aloisi says. “I think the only responsible and principled way to proceed here is to have a multiple-year solution.”

That is, no further hikes for two to three years. But in order for this one-time fare increase to cover the T’s financial needs over that time, Aloisi adds that significant service cuts are all but inevitable.

“I think that in order to meet the gap that we may need to meet, the service cuts that we would put on the table would be serious and not trivial,” he says.

The MBTA is expected to begin an expedited public process soon, with a dozen open meetings scheduled before fare increases in the fall. The process has taken as long as a year for previous fare hikes, making this the fourth and potentially fastest fare increase in the past nine years.

And the prospect of yet another fare increase worries rider Taisha O’Bryant. “What about the impact of people not having the money to pay for the bus?” she asks.

O’Bryant, who is with The T Riders Union, a transit-advocacy group, believes the T may be moving too fast on this latest fare increase. But she says that’s because state legislators are not moving fast enough. Lawmakers have committed to preventing a $100-million toll increase on the Massachusetts Turnpike. But O’Bryant says she hasn’t heard them make a similarly strong commitment to the T.

“I mean it forces the secretary’s hand when legislators do not want to step up, and I hope they hear me worldwide, citywide. Riders are going to suffer. Riders are going to have the fare increase. And we get less service. What kind of sense does that make? Don’t make sense to me.”

Even if the legislature does come through with an estimated $160 million from a sales tax increase, Transportation Secretary James Aloisi says it would not be enough to provide long-term financial stability for the MBTA. So, by September, he says, riders paying up to $2 for a subway trip now could be paying $2.40 every time they board the T.