MBTA proposed rate hikes and route eliminations

[psocoptera]

Big PDF here which I have not gone through most of yet.

Of personal interest to me/people who live near me, in Scenario 2 we lose the 80 and the 96. Of personal interest to people who live where I used to: in both Scenarios we lose all commuter rail service after 10 pm and on weekends.

Comments

[jere7my.livejournal.com]

Under scenario 1, a monthly LinkPass goes up to $80, and none of the routes I regularly ride are touched. Under scenario 2, a LinkPass goes up to $78, and two of the five routes I regularly ride are eliminated (64 and 96). Sooo...not liking scenario 2, but, given the way the proposal is worded*, I suspect the cards have been stacked in favor of scenario 1 anyway. Scenario 2 looks to me like "Make the alternative bad enough for enough kinds of people that the fare hike in Scenario 1 will be easier to swallow."

* "As shown in the table, Scenario 2 affects the greater percentage of existing service regardless of the measure. Scenario 2 also results in the greater numbers of MBTA jobs lost and buses removed from service."

[psocoptera.livejournal.com]

I think you are probably right... but Scenario 1 is still a pretty big fuck-you to the suburbs, with losses to both bus service and commuter rail. I guess you could say what do I care, I don't live in the suburbs, but from a policy standpoint I like the idea of having a pubtrans system that serves more of the pub, and even Scenario 1 seems like a big step backwards from an "alternatives to the automobile" standpoint.

[jere7my.livejournal.com]

Oh, they're both terrible options, no doubt. I hold out some hope that the extreme terribleness signifies that this is a scare tactic to wake up the populace and force the governor/legislature to find some extra bucks.

[antimony.livejournal.com]

Well, there goes any working on the weekends for me unless I want to bike both ways. Plus the 96, which dphilli1 takes to work, and I take occasionally.

We need real transit in this country, sob.