Oddly enough, I am OK with the fare hike. $1.25 per ride (mostly) to $1.70 per ride (again, in most cases) using the Charlie Card. I think the $2.00 fare when using the Charlie Ticket is a bit excessive, but if it's meant to tax the tourists - terrific, go for it. Locals using Charlie Tickets, I view in the same category as locals who don't have FastLane or EZ-Pass Transponders in their cars....it's there to make your life easier, quicker, and cheaper - so use it, and it's your fault alone if you don't.
June will mark my 6th year here in Boston, and before the hike, a ride on the T in July 2001 cost the same as a ride on the T in December 2006. If they had raised fares 10 cents per year, nobody would have blinked.
What is pleasingly satisfying about the fare changes is the new requirement to pay the fare on the outbound B line. I never understood the logic behind free rides on all outbound B line trains when the T was about ground (beyond Kenmore). I suppose it was a manner of expediency, to allow for all doors to open and riders to disembark more quickly.
The MBTA was losing lots of revenue by doing this, and the BU kids were getting fatter by not walking. How irritating is it to be on the already beyond crowded B line and have lazy BU students board at the BU East stop, and leave at the BU Central or BU West stop, literally blocks away. Not Manhattan Avenue blocks...probably one John Mayer song between stops on foot. The whole walk from Packard's Corner to Kenmore is only about 25 minutes. I've done it myself.
Last I checked (well, I haven't...but I'm assuming), BU does not subsidize the T for this privledge. I don't see plackards on the B line saying "BU Campus Shuttle." In fact, the B line's actual name is "Boston College." Perhaps the BU'ers viewed this as a slight, and sought revenge on their Jesuit friends by crowding their space.
I have nothing against BU. I have everything against lazy BU students. An article in the Metro last week had such brilliant quotes from disturbed BU students:
"All we're trying to do is go across campus. We're not trying to hurt anyone." (try walking)
"It is too expensive for when you just want to go a few stops." (agreed, try walking)
"We always used to take the T, but not I think a lot of students are going to walk instead." (good idea)
According to the Metro, students are protesting in a variety of ways - everything from taking taxis (that'yll get 'em!) to creating groups and petitions on Facebook.com (um...shouldn't you be studying?) Seriously, if you choose to ride, be a responsible resident of Boston and pay the fare. If you elect to walk, enjoy the fact that you're burning off some of the cheap beer you drink nightly.
4 comments:
BU kids need to grow up and realize that simply having the option of taking a train to their next class is a luxury that students at most other universities can only dream of. I'd love to see them try and survive winter at the UCONN campus in Storrs, CT. Perhaps their collective whining would be sufficient to keep them warm.
Their entitlement complex is nauseating to the rest of the city, and I'm glad that the MBTA has so far refused to bend to their demands for special treatment. No one has the *right* to a free ride, as BU students believe, and while they have an impossible time understanding what it means to be told "No" it's about time that someone do so. Spending five minutes at St. Paul St. so the train can be crowded with students going to Pleasant St. is the kind of thing that shouldn't be encouraged. The simply insane number of stops BU enjoys (SEVEN in a mile and a half stretch) should have been cut back years ago, but the demand created by the Free Ride Brigade ensured that every stop was overflowing with waiting riders.
Get rid of Blanford St, merge BU West/St. Paul and Pleasant into one stop and in the morning rush hour, express the B-Line inbound to BU Central and then on to Kenmore. It's unnecessary to force people to sit through 20 minutes of stops to allow a total of three people to get off.
BU's special treatment needs to end.
Love your post, but you're wrong about the fare increases. There was an increase in January 2004 from $1.00 to $1.25. So, that's a 60% increase in 3 years, with little to no discernable improvement. That's a little worrisome - if the trend keeps up, we'll be paying $2.70 per ride in 2010.
Anon - thanks for the kind words and the correction. Jeez - I forgot about that increase! My bad. I still think the logic is applicable.
I do agree with the lack of service improvements - unless you count beautiful new never-used stations such as Silver Line Courthouse!
Anon - thanks for the kind words and the correction. Jeez - I forgot about that increase! My bad. I still think the logic is applicable.
I do agree with the lack of service improvements - unless you count beautiful new never-used stations such as Silver Line Courthouse!
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