With money tight, MBTA delays vote on new equipment

$3.79 billion . Just buy every rider a Toyota Prius and close the T.Whats that like 200,000 of them? There comes a point of diminishing returns here.

EARTH TO THE T: Cut out the ridiculous retire-after-20-years-of-driving-a-friggin-bus-with-full-pension nonsense and MAYBE I'll support a fare increase. I use it regularly but this entitlement nonsense is getting way out of hand. Control the real costs with your head-in-the-sand union knuckleheads, let them plan for their own retirement with a 401K like the rest of us working stiffs.

T, to bcmba1989, The 23 year retirement, a 55% of there pay, not 100% pay, has been that way for 100 years. In order to recieve a 78 % of there retirement the T,bus drivers, Who put up with aloooot of crap, have to work 30 years. Get your info correct. Also They have rotating shifts, and the shifed changes every three mouths. They work Holidays and weekends. Many fine Bus drivers and subway peaple have missed out on many holidays and family events, to drive really ridiculous uniformed peaple to work and to visit there family. Most of the workers can not retire at 23 years any way, they have young children. papayinputting through colleg

Here we go again. This seems like a mismanaged business. I truely appreciate the T and they are only hurting themsleves by cutting the amount of runs. I would ask the commonwealth where the OBAMA money is that is meant for infrastructure management and development. This seems like a no-brainer. Come on Barney, where are you hiding that cash.

No T employee deserves such a ridiculous pension.Not with the terrible service they're providing these days. GIMME MY MONEY BACK

All this negative distraction caused by Michael Widmer the $400,000 windbag and leader of the Mass Taxpayers Foundation. Who does not have any worries from house payments, car payments, travel, meals, gas, and has a pension plan that is rather extreme for someone employed by a non-profit. That 400,000 would go a long way to repairing some tracks which would allow someone who works a job to get to work. His plan is hurt everyone who works in some disgusting idea to drive all of us to the bottom with third world wages and benefits. From hurting widows, teachers, police officers to making sure crime pretension measures are not on place. There is not a class or group that has not been affected by his scorn. Its time for the state to relieve the T of the big dig burdens and fund it properly. If that means for a temporary tax to pay of the debt so be it but its time for our state representatives and senators to step up and do something. I would recommend a special tax on those making $ 400,000 a year and work for a non-profit who also receive reimbursements for expenses that the averages person pays out of their pocket every day.

The employees of the MBTA need a reality check!!!!!!They are mean individuals That prey on the lost people that have never used the MBTA

i love how everyone blames the T worker, yet everyone fails to see the $1.8 billion in debt the MBTA was forced to assume because of the big dig.
was anyone aware the MBTA still has the lowest fares in the nation?
if folks could only see what the T pays for as far as materials you would understand it's debt. the contractors who supply the T gouge everything.
i'm sure everyone has heard the $10,000 toilet seat joke. at the T it's not
that far from the truth. paying $5.00 for a screw that costs $.05 at the
hardware store or $100 for a tiny switch that cost $.02 to make in china.
the general public has no idea............

Vicki: Two things. Can you name me a tax that was "temporary"; and why is it
that it is always a new tax and not less spending and trimming some fat. There HAS to be some fat that can be cut. However, the US government seldom cuts anything in real terms but they have a way out. They just print more money. And that policy will come back to really shaft the whole country.

First of all, long-term employees of a company are absolutely entitled to the pension and retirement that they receive upon putting their time in. Anyone criticizing that is simply loathing the fact that THEY don't have that kind of retirement coming their way. That said, the MBTA has consistently wasted a tremendous amount of money on seemingly unnecessary equipment, vehicle upgrades and technological systems, not to mention some of the higher-up's salaries. Don't most of us just want public transit vehicles that show up on time and can get us from point a to point b during times beside office-workers' hours? I'll take a fare hike, so long as I can still get home from work at 8pm.