MBTA Ridership Rises Despite Fare Hikes
Ridership this August is up 1.2 percent versus last August. Analysts had predicted a drop of 5.5 percent because of the higher fares.
Higher fares don't seem to be deterring residents from riding the T. That's one conclusion to draw from numbers released by the MBTA that show overall ridership has risen 1.2 percent this August versus last August. It was on July 1 that the transit agency hiked fares and scaled back some services to close a budget gap. Analysts had expected the changes, which boosted a CharlieCard subway ride from $1.70 to $2, to drive down ridership by 5.5 percent. Instead, ridership dropped only 0.1 percent in July versus July 2011. Then, in August came the 1.2 percent jump. Digging into the August numbers, ridership was up more on some services more than others. For instance, on heavy rail (i.e. the Orange, Red and Blue lines), ridership was up 2.7 …
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Andrew Jeromski
3:59 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
From @ Jeanine Brown: I just left a comment re: the real reasone behind the MBTA's "deficit." This fare hike is wrong and should not have to make T-riders pay for the Central Artery's way over due expenditure and time! more ›