Mayor Martin Walsh calls for fare hike delay, Boston role in T operations

June 17, 2019 News

By SEAN PHILIP COTTER | sean.cotter@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald

Mayor Martin Walsh is pushing for Boston to have a larger role in MBTA operations and for the T to delay the looming fare hike, which the organization says it’s not going to do.

Walsh tweeted, “There should be no fare increase until the Red Line is fixed. The @MBTA must act with urgency and it’s unfair to ask riders to pay more until the Red Line is fully operational.”

A car on the Red Line — the T’s busiest subway line, carrying about 240,000 people each weekday — derailed last Tuesday, causing delays that still continue to linger on the line.

Chris Osgood, Boston’s chief of streets, elaborated on the topic at Monday’s MBTA Fiscal & Management Control Board meeting, saying the city supported the increase originally because of the promise of better service coming with it — which isn’t the reality currently.

“Right now our residents are experiencing a tremendous amount of pain,” Osgood said. “We’re asking you to hold off on the fare increase until the Red Line service gets back to normal.”

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Mayor Marty Walsh

@marty_walsh

There should be no fare increase until the Red Line is fixed.

The @MBTA must act with urgency and it’s unfair to ask riders to pay more until the Red Line is fully operational.

2,185

11:55 AM – Jun 17, 2019

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669 people are talking about this

Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack and Board Chairman Joseph Aiello both said at Monday’s meeting that there are no plans to delay the fare hike, which will raise the cost of a one-way subway ride from $2.25 to $2.40.

A T spokesman said in a statement, “MBTA riders deserve a level of service on which they can depend, and the T is strongly committed to providing it. To that end, fare revenue helps fund the T’s aggressive capital improvement program.”

Walsh also tweeted, “Boston is most impacted by the failures of the @MBTA. It’s our residents, our workers & our commuters who feel the pain. Yet we do not have a seat at the table when decisions about the T are made. I’m calling on the @MBTA to reinstate a local seat on the oversight board.”

The FMCB is a five-member board appointed by the governor. The board was created in 2015 and expires in 2020, and the state is still working out what to replace the board with, though officials have said a board with a similar role is likely.

Gov. Charlie Baker’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment about Walsh’s statements.

JFuutOER_bigger.jpg

Mayor Marty Walsh

@marty_walsh

Boston is most impacted by the failures of the @MBTA.

It’s our residents, our workers & our commuters who feel the pain. Yet we do not have a seat at the table when decisions about the T are made.

I’m calling on the @MBTA to reinstate a local seat on the oversight board.

1,213

2:27 PM – Jun 17, 2019

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323 people are talking about this

Read the original article in the Boston Herald, here.