MBTA control board votes to hike fares, but exempts bus fares

BOSTON — Commuters will have to pay more to ride the commuter rail and subway in the Boston area.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday voted to boost fares an average of about 6 percent. Subway fares would rise 15 cents to $2.40. Commuter rail prices would vary by region but the maximum increase for a one-way fare would be 75 cents.

The board opted to exempt bus fares from hikes. Student and senior fares would also be exempt from the hike.

"The prospect of raising fares on the riding public is really equivalent to class warfare," Rep. Mike Connolly from Cambridge said.

The fare hikes would take effect July 1. The T says they would raise about $29 million annually. The board also voted not to increase rates again for at least three years, with some exceptions.

The vote came after dozens of riders, activists and elected officials spoke out against the hike, saying it would hit the region's low-income residents the hardest.

Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu, a daily MBTA rider, handed the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board a petition signed by 3,200 people, urging them to vote "no."

"The service has gone down, it hasn’t gotten better," Wu said.

She said paying more for unreliable service will lead to lower ridership, and more cars, traffic and carbon emissions.

"Rather than having the big picture conversation about, ‘Where will we actually get funding to fix everything?’, we’re trying to delay that conversation on the backs of people who can least afford it," Wu said.

But, the agency said it needs the $29 million to balance its budget and make those much-needed repairs and improvements to the aging public transit system.

"We heard frustration over fares, but what we really heard was frustration over the service," Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack said. "The only way we can make the service better is to have the resources to invest in the T."

Associated Press