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Despite budget boost, MBTA still plans to raise fares

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 8, 2009 08:02 PM

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The MBTA is recommending a package of fare hikes that includes a 50-cent increase in the price of a Charlie ticket and 30-cent increase for those who pay for the subway electronically, the authority announced in a document this afternoon.

The Boston area’s public transit authority promised that if the fare hikes take effect in the next few months, the agency will resist another increase for at least two years.

The Legislature agreed last month to help the T with its financial problems by dedicating $160 million from a sales tax increase to plug most of the agency’s deficit for the current budget year, which began this month. But transportation officials have said that will not be enough, given rising debt payments due mostly to expansion projects.

The price of a monthly bus pass would rise from $40 to $47, while a LinkPass would jump from $59 to $69. Monthly commuter rail passes would also go up by as much as $31, depending on the zone.

In all, the fare hikes are expected to raise $69 million per year.

The T will hold a series of public hearings before imposing the fare hikes. The agency also laid out a wide variety of service cuts, but said they would not produce enough savings on their own because of a projected loss in riders. The T is not recommending service cuts, though they remain under discussion as the public hearing process goes forward, according to the agency.