This week the MBTA put forward two scenarios for closing its $161 million budget deficit by raising fares and cutting service. As a member of MassDOT's Transportation Advisory Committee, ABC received a briefing on the two scenarios from Secretary of Transportation Rich Davey and MBTA staff Tuesday afternoon. Since then, we've had the opportunity to dig a little deeper into the two scenarios, and we wanted to share some details with you.

Both proposals use fare hikes and service cuts to close the gap - in other words, no additional money from the legislature is anticipated. Scenario 1 relies more heavily on fares, while Scenario 2 cuts service more drastically, including 101 weekday bus routes, 69 Saturday routes and 50 Sunday routes. Both scenarios would eliminate all ferry service; commuter rail service on weekends and after 10pm on weekdays; and weekend service on the Mattapan Trolley and Line E of the Green Line.   

The table below shows what selected single-ride fares and monthly passes would cost under the two proposals:

You can read more, including the full Impact Analysis (PDF) that is the source for the table above, on the T's website.

Clearly either scenario will have a significant impact on firms that offer subsidies or pre-tax purchasing of T passes for their employees. Furthermore, because Congress failed to act last year, the federal fringe benefit for commuting by transit has decreased from $230 per month to $125 per month. This will impact the amount of employees' passes that companies will be able to cover as a benefit, particularly for more expensive, outer-zone commuter rail passes.

ABC will be actively engaged on this issue over the next few months. Our Transportation Finance and Policy committee, led by Doug McGarrah, and the board of the ABC Transportation Management Association will be developing our official position. We also want to hear from you, our members, about how these fares will impact your businesses and employees. Please share your comments -- and whether you would like to participate in developing our policy statement -- by emailing me at  rparr@abettercity.org.  

In the meantime, we will continue to follow this issue and post the latest information on Facebook and on Twitter, where you can search #TFareHike to track the latest on the issue.

Sincerely, 

Rich Parr

Director of Policy and Development