With Feedback, T Customers Rally Behind Bus, Commuter Rail Service

The MBTA's customers are rallying behind bus and commuter rail service, according to the authority's preliminary analysis of public comments on its proposals to raise fares and cut service.

The staff has gone through slightly fewer than half of all the public hearing comments. More than anything else, people who showed up at the T's 31 meetings this year opposed cutting weekend commuter rail service. The second most unpopular proposal among people who turned out for meetings was cuts in bus service.

An analysis of emails finds that by a margin of 3 to 1, customers oppose service cuts over fare increases. The greatest number of emails ask the T to maintain its current bus services, followed by those asking to maintain commuter rail services.

The T has been getting regular mail, too. The greatest number of letters ask the T to keep commuter rail service on weekends and late nights.

-- Here's the MBTA's preliminary analysis (on Scribd):

http://www.scribd.com/doc/86352463/MBTA-Preliminary-Analysis-On-Comments-On-Fare-Service-Changes