Dan Graubaskas should be eaten, horribly and ironically, by a shark

[spatch]

From El Glob:

Thursday, November 9, 2006
MBTA board approves fare hike for T, buses and light rail
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent

The MBTA board voted unanimously this afternoon to approve the T's second set of fare increases in three years despite the objections of Governor-elect Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

...

The increases, slated to take affect in January, are projected to bring in an additional $71 million a year as the MBTA tries to balance its budget after two years of shortfalls.

T officials acknowledge that the fare hikes will drive away an estimated 16.5 million passengers a year. The MBTA carries about 1.1 million passengers on an average workday.

Under the new fares, subway and trolley rides will go from $1.25 to $1.70, and bus fares from 90 cents to $1.25.

They unanimously voted for a fare hike, eh? After all that smoke-and-mirrors regarding "We'll think about hiking prices after we hear what the ridership has to say" and after the ridership spoke up and said "NO"?

Wow, talk about your world-shattering surprises right there.

Then again, after this week's Blue State Bonanza (like Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, the Fourth of July and 4/20 all rolled into one for the Democrats except Nevada, where there ain't gonna be no 4/20) I guess I should have expected some bad news to filter up eventually.

Comments

[terras.livejournal.com]

The sad reality of T financing is that this fare increase is dedicated towards debt service and keeping up with the pay and benefits for T employees and retirees. In the next five years a bunch of T employees are due to retire with a cushy pension and full healthcare -- All for being surly and unresponsive toward their customers. Even better: The Carmen's union is negotiating for a new contract (the old one expired over the summer) and they're asking for raises plus maintaining benefits, which will likely lead to another increase in the next two years.

The T's peculiar habit of letting lightbulbs burn out and installing a new fixture, instead of simply replacing the bulb, stems from the need to perform maintenance out of the capital budget. That capital budget is funded in part by the Feds and the State bond bills, which have no relationship to the fares and are usually earmarked out the wazoo.

I'll put my cranky stick down now, lest I hurt someone...