8/9/11: And now, a word from your customers...

I feel bad for outgoing MBTA chief Richard Davey.  I really do.  He was stuck in a no-win situation with a massive bureaucracy that was generally more worried about covering its own but than anything else.  Union rules, poor operations and a lack of funding continually made his job a nightmare.

But I was somewhat sickened to read in a recent article that he considered the T's social networking platform among his greatest accomplishments.  Seriously?  We have passengers trapped in broken down trains on the Red Line and he is concerned about the app that will tell them how late they are?  I can only hope that he was just trying to connect with readers by talking about the hot topic of the day rather than believing that a few apps was his biggest accomplishment.

Mr. Davey is on to bigger and better things and his replacement will have a really crappy job.  But there's no way that the next manager is going to fix anything without raising prices.

Prices on the T haven't gone up in five years.  Meanwhile, you can pay $2 (or $1.70 with a card) to go from one end of the city to the other.  It's one of the greatest bargains in Boston.  And it should be; there's a reason it's called "public transportation."  But the T's cash is a function of Revenues minus Costs, and those aren't looking so hot right now.  Good luck getting the unions to give back; the most I can hope for there is that the T holds the line on costs.  And the T's other schemes, including advertising and the T-shirt shop, aren't going to cover the bills.

A $.50 fare hike wouldn't be gentle, but it would solve a lot of problems.  The T's main concern is that the very people who need the most, generally those living farthest from the city, are the ones who would be most hurt by the fare hike, and this is a valid concern.  Thus, the MBTA should also allow passengers to file for a hardship allowance to offset the hike and handle those on a case by case basis.  Even if 20% of the passengers could not handle the increase, you would still generate an extra $4 in revenue per 10 passengers.

It wouldn't be the end, but it would be a good start.  Meanwhile, I'll keep waiting for the C Train while nine others go by.