Local MBTA commuters upset over potential fare hikes

December 23, 2015 4:50 pm

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Local MBTA commuters are gaining steam over potential fare hikes, as the MBTA falls deeper in debt.

Commuters could see fare hikes of up to 10 percent every two years, as soon as July. The board approved this increase after realizing a quarter of its 6,400 employees make more than $100,000 a year. Meanwhile, the agency faces an outstanding debt of $5.3 billion.

“I think it’s just a classic case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer,” said Jeffrey Finnigan of Attleboro.

The T’s highest-paid employee has earned $315,000 so far this year, after somehow being able to work 3,000 hours of overtime, making almost four time their base salary.

Some locals who don’t ride the train much said a fare increase wouldn’t make too much of a difference to them, while others in the same boat say it’s about the principle of it all. "People have to take the train a lot and those people are the people who [think]: ‘I don’t want to have to drive. I want to take the train. It’s less money,’” explained Keegan Douglass of Attleboro. “The train [rates are] going to go up and it’s just going to be a horror show.”

An audit has been requested to go over the high salaries. In the meantime, MBTA officials said they are considering other options alongside fare hikes to deal with the deficit, like freezing wages for non-union workers and cutting late-night service.