First Commute of the New Month

Wow, when did it get to be fall already? A new season was definitely in the air this morning while waiting for the P508. This morning's commute was right on time, we arrived at South Station at 8:23 AM.

I saw this interesting article in the Herald about how the MBTA is cracking down on fake commuter rail passes. According to the article, the MBTA instituted random ticket checks using technology that allows examiners to immediately identify counterfeit tickets and passes. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure full collection of fares from every rider and hold those who try to counterfeit rail passes accountable. Interesting, I haven't seen anything on my train ... riders, do you have any observations to share?

TGIF!

I'm glad today is Friday ... I need the R&R over the weekend.

Today's p508 was on time to South Station, arriving at 8:20 AM. Knock on wood, the morning commutes have been pretty decent as of late. Also, we had an actual working door on the first car this morning ... and windows you could see out of! Will wonders never cease?

As I've previously mentioned, last week the MBTA presented a proposed $1.6 billion fiscal-year 2010 budget to its board. The budget includes a $160 million deficit which is the highest in MBTA's history due to declining revenues (from the sales tax) and increased operating expenses. I was able to find more details on the MBTA budget, follow this link.

It's a sobering look at the state of the system. I do find it quite interesting that revenues are still decreasing across the MBTA considering they touted their huge ridership levels last year.

Back on the Train Gang

Hi Train Stoppers!

Work has been quite hectic the last week or so. I've been doing a lot of travelling and have not been riding the rails ... until this morning. The p508 was on time, arriving to South Station at around 8:22 AM.

I saw this story in the Globe a couple of days ago regarding the T's current budget and Governor. Patrick's solution. As we know, Governor Patrick has proposed a 19-cent gas tax increase with 6 cents dedicated to the T, but this has not gained traction or much support in the state legislature.

The thing about Patrick's plan, it would stave off any fare hikes for at least two to three years. Recall from a previous post that the estimated fare hikes are in the 25-30% range with a reduction in service. And these service reductions would start as soon as July. Something needs to give ... and soon!

Fare Hikes on the Horizon

Well, the news is not good out of the MBTA. Based on feedback I've been hearing/reading about, it looks like fare hikes will be in the 25-30% range. This is coupled with a decrease in service of up to 50% for weekend and non-peak evening hours.

So, not only can we expect to pay even more (again) for crappy service, but now that crappy service is going to get cut basically in half? It's bad enough that if I miss the 6:15 PM train, everything else is a local and it takes me almost two hours to get home in the evening. Imagine now cutting one or two trips from the evening schedules? So, it's either take the 6:15 PM train or ... wait until 10:05? That is just absurd on so many levels.

Let's look at the numbers, shall we? Currently, a zone 8 one way trip is $7.75. If fares increase by 30%, that trip will now cost $10.08. My monthly pass will go from $250 to $325. This is in addition to the $80 a month I now need to pay to park at an MBTA lot.

These proposed fare hikes come after a year of record ridership levels for the MBTA. So, although more people are riding the train, the MBTA says the price hikes are needed in order to prevent cuts in service, layoffs or other painful alternatives. And we have the $5.2 billion in debt and the T's annual deficit of around $170 million/year to thank for the T's fiscal crisis. And this debt load can be attributed to the costs to the Greenbush line expansion, annual maintenance and pension/retirement programs for the T's union employees.

Transportation is a mess across the Commonwealth. Frankly, we taxpayers are going to bear the brunt of fixing and cleaning up the mess ... and it sucks.

Decisions, Decisions

I was running late this morning (what else is new? I'm so not a morning person) and debated whether to drive or to take the train. The train won out, but it got me to thinking about costs and what I'm saving or whether I am actually saving anything. So, I decided to do a Pro/Con list between driving and the train.

Commuting on the Train - Time
I leave my house at 6:45 AM to get to the train station by 7:00 to take the p508 which leaves Grafton at 7:09 AM. I get to South Station by 8:25 ... on a good day. Then, it takes me about 15-20 minutes to either walk or take the Silver Line to my office in the Seaport District and I'm at my desk between 8:40 and 8:45. So, we're talking a two hour commute door to door. Ugh.

At night, it's not much better. I cannot make the 5:00 train on a daily basis, so that leaves me with the 5:35, which is a local train making all stops from Boston to Grafton and gets me to Grafton at around 7:00 ; or the 6:15 train which is an express and gets me to Grafton at 7:19. So, I get home between 7:15-7:40.

Driving - Time
I live in central Massachusetts, approximately 40 miles one way into Boston. Without traffic, I can make it one way in about 65 minutes. With traffic, it takes about 90 minutes. The thing is, I can leave later in the morning and still make it to work at the same time and this includes a 10 minute coffee stop. The other benefit is being on my own schedule and not a slave to the train schedule, which is especially helpful at night. When I drive, I am usually home by 6:30 PM.

Advantage: DRIVING

Commuting on the Train - Cost
My monthly pass costs $250. I can use this on the commuter rail and any subway or bus, which works out well because I take the Silver Line a lot.

Parking used to be $10/week, but next week it will go up to $20/week. So, my monthly commuting costs on the train are $330/month.

Driving - Cost
When my office moved to the Seaport area earlier this year, we received a subsidy for parking. If I elect to park, my monthly parking costs would be $135.

Tolls are $5.80 round trip on the Pike. As for gas, I would envision needing at least two fill ups per week, at an estimated cost of $60. Thank goodness gas prices have come down over the last few months, or this wouldn't even be an option.

So, anticipated monthly costs of driving are about $490. I didn't factor in wear & tear on my car though, I'm sure there's a fancy formula way to do this.

Frankly, I think MBTA costs are only going to go up in the future.

Advantage: TRAIN

Commuting on the Train - Sanity
First and foremost, one of the main reasons I take the commuter rail is to reduce my carbon footprint. I don't want to drive if I can get away with taking the train. I also like taking the train when it's snowing out ... I avoid driving in snow as much as possible.

I will say that I am able to get things accomplished on the train that I couldn't do while driving, like take a nap or finish a book. When the train runs on time, the commute is a piece of cake. It's on the days when the train is late, breaks down, goes slowly for no reason or when my pass isn't collected that I question my own sanity.

One day I do not have to question my sanity is the day before Thanksgiving. The train is usually packed and I watch the Mass Pike from my seat to see all of the people sitting in traffic, feeling sorry for the drive ahead of them. I've been there, one time it took me almost three hours to get to Worcester from Boston ... not fun at all.

Driving - Sanity
It is convenient to have a car handy, especially when there are after work functions or I just want to get home at a halfway decent time. I'm not saying that traffic isn't frustrating, believe me, driving in Boston isn't a picnic and it's not always so convenient.

Advantage: TRAIN, only because of the beneficial environmental impact

So, what have we learned from this exercise? Public transportation should be a convenient, inexpensive and efficient means of transportation. On a daily basis, I would say convenient and efficient is covered, but as the cost of everything increases, so will the cost to take the train. I'm going to have to decide what trade-offs I'm willing to make and to decide whether to continue taking the train.

P.S. today's commute was three minutes behind schedule, the p508 arrived at South Station at 8:26 AM.

P.P.S. Don't even get me started on the cluster that was the Silver Line this AM.

Fares Not Collected

Grafton Train Rider shared the following correspondence on an inquiry submitted to the Commuter Rail Customer Service site.

Dear Train Rider,

Feel free to post.
Grafton Train Rider

Here was Grafton Train Rider's original submission, sent in because fares were not collected and the P533 train was late on 8/14/2008.

It's bad enough to have your trains arrive over 30 minutes late with no signage indicating so at the station! The female conductor did not even bother to collect fares. I asked another passenger who boarded at South Station, and she said that the conductor did not collect for passengers boarding there either. To make matters worse, there was no announcement, apology and/or explanation about the train arriving over 30 mintues late. Sometimes I wonder why I pay for a monthly pass when the fares are not collected consistently.

This is the response that Grafton Train Rider received from the MBCR:

Dear Grafton Train Rider,
I have read your email regarding your commute on the 14th of August.

I have forwarded this information to the trainmaster responsible for conductors asking that these issues be addressed with the crew of this train. There was a mechanical failure on an earlier train that resulted in the 36 minute delay out of South Station. There is no excuse for not telling our passengers something, even if the crew is not aware of the exact circumstance they are obliged to make announcements throughout any delay. As for not collecting fares, the proper collection of revenue is a major responsibility and I have been assured that this will be addressed as well.

I am sorry that it is necessary for you to have to write to us again but thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Sincerely,
Linda Dillon
MBCR Customer Service Manager

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I would hate to work in customer service and I would really hate to have Linda Dillon's job.

Seriously, though, when will one of the media outlets or one of our elected officials start to put pressure on the MBTA/MBCR to do the following:

1. Collect Fares. The T can't keep on bellyaching that they are running out of budget if they do not attempt to at least collect the revenue at hand. Yes, I get it, I know that the fares do not support the T. But when you have NO money, SOME money has got to help.
2. Communicate. We live in an electronic age. We are not relying on telegraphs to transmit information. How hard is it to notify riders that trains will be delayed?
   

Point #2 becomes moot if they just want us to let us ride the trains for free. If the trains were a free service, heck yeah, we wouldn't really have any right to complain if the service sucked.

But the key point is - we're paying for service. At least some of us are. And I suppose fewer people are paying . . . at least in the form of a monthly pass. Because, what's the point? Fares aren't collected. So why blow $250 a month if you're a Zone 8 commuter, when you can gamble and just buy a 12-ride pass for $93.00?

Better yet - how's this for a gamble - buy a Zone 1A multi-fare pass for $20.40 for 12 rides for your outbound commutes. If they're not collecting fares, will you actually get caught for using the cheapest multi-ride ticket outbound all the way to Westborough, Grafton or Worcester?

I would love to see a state rep, state senator or a "mainstream" media outlet run an investigation on (1) how many monthly passes are purchased - by zone, (2) correlate that to the actual number of commuter rail riders and (3) the actual amount of fares collected. If I had to make an unscientific guess, I would bet that there are way more riders than the fares are showing.

MBTA and MBCR - step up to the plate and do your part!

Thanks to Grafton Train Rider for sharing!

Missed Letter to the Editor

Sometimes I don't get a chance to read newspapers delivered to me off-line right away. Such is the case with this past Saturday's The Boston Globe.

Mark Slater of the Bay Village Neighborhood Association wrote a pertinent letter to The Globe's editorial staff titled "Reckless expansion distorts T deficit." Mark - we could not say it better ourselves.

Here is the letter in its entirety. Well said!

IN AN AUG. 7 editorial ("T for troubled"), the Globe lamented that the MBTA's service failings can be attributed to "$8.1 billion debt that saps 27 percent of operating costs just to pay the interest. The debt is unfair and severely distorts the T's balance sheet. The state should find a way to ease the burden."

The Globe ignores common sense by blindly asserting that the MBTA general manager has limited ability to control its finances, as "fares are the only significant part of the T's budget over which Grabauskas has control."

Quite to the contrary, the MBTA has a great deal of control over its finances and its debt levels. The MBTA's fixation on debt-funded expansion - even when a lack of projected ridership revenue fails to support the increase in debt - will cause a continuing degradation in service levels and a need for ongoing taxpayer bailouts.

A leading example of this fiscal folly is the widely reviled Silver Line Phase III, a $1.5 billion to $2 billion bus tunnel touted as providing Roxbury residents with a "one-stop ride" to Logan airport. This project will result in an increase of the MBTA's debt by $600 million to $800 million, despite adding an insignificant number of new riders to the system and despite the fact there is no demand from Roxbury residents for this route.

As it has in many such situations, the MBTA has studiously ignored far less expensive alternative solutions which would avoid the consequent debt increase.

Until the MBTA fixes its thoroughly broken system for project planning, it will stay in a cycle of constantly increasing debt to fund its mismanaged expansion. The bailout of the MBTA without needed planning reforms will simply allow the problem to grow unchecked.

Say it Ain't So . . . "Hefty" MBTA Fare Hikes Likely in 2010

An article in today's Boston Herald reports that MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas said that "hefty" fare hikes are likely in 2010, unless the Legislature takes action to help the debt plagued authority.

Since we're talking about Dan "the PR Man" Grabauskas, the Herald notes they have no idea what "hefty" means in terms of an actual increase in fares.

The T has raised fares between 25 to 27% every three years since 2001.

In a meeting with The Boston Globe's editorial staff, Grabauskas was quoted as saying:

"If you don't want to cut service, it's going to have to be hefty" unless the T finds some new source of money to patch its rising deficits, Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said in a meeting with Globe editors, responding to questions about the possibility of a fare hike.

The Globe also noted that Dan could not define "hefty."

"The next fare increase, I don't know what that number would have to be, but it would have to be pretty substantial," Grabauskas said. A 25 percent increase would mean it would cost $2.50 to ride the subway and almost $1.90 to catch a bus.

Grabauskas spelled out two other alternatives: cuts in service, such as dropping bus routes or running trains less frequently, or state assistance with the agency's $8.2 billion in debt and interest payments.

Public transit advocacy groups are against the fare hikes.

Seriously - why can't the T at least manage within its budget? Did they really need to roll out WiFi? Do they need to have 65 odd vehicles for employees to commute to and from work?

"I don't think the T's problems are a great secret here," said Representative Joseph F. Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat who chairs the House's transportation committee. "It's going to require a lot of things. Fares may be part of a solution to a larger problem or set of problems. There are limits to what you can do with fares."

The Globe article noted that the T's fares are in line with the fares of other major transit systems in the US, including Chicago and Philadelphia.

In other news, today's Telegram & Gazette reports on the increase of parking fares at parking lots near Union Station. Effective yesterday, the two surface commuter lots parking rates doubled from $1.00 to $2.00. Commuters are not happy.

The article noted that the city of Worcester publicized the fare hike by leaving fliers on vehicles parked in the lots in June and again last week. The increase brings the Worcester lots in line with parking rates at the other MBTA stations.

Parking rates were increased because Worcester needs the revenue to make improvements to the outdoor lots.

Additionally, the city would like to see more commuters park in the new Union Station garage. A monthly pass brings daily parking at the Union Station garage in line with the $2.00 rate at the surface lots. It is hoped that once road work is completed on Grafton Street, enabling easy access, more people will park in the new garage. The garage sounds like it will be nice for the winter.

Everyone Loves a Celtics Parade

In case you have been living under a bubble somewhere, the Celtics "Rolling Rally" is today. Hip hip hooray to the Celtics! That was a nice championship victory.

Altering my schedule a bit, I took the P512 this morning. Maybe that was a mistake. It was PACKED with Celtics revelers. Maybe it wasn't a mistake - who knows, my regular P508 may have been packed too.

The conductors gave up collecting passes around Framingham. I'm perturbed by this for a few reasons.

1. The MBTA needs the revenue.
   
2. It is unfair that some people had to pay for their train ride in and others didn't.
   
3. The T and the city have been promoting the use of the whole system as an alternative to driving in - why didn't they staff up for this? Could they not staff up? I mean - if you aren't going to collect the much needed fares, don't collect it for the entire ride in.

We got to South Station at 9:06 a.m., a few minutes ahead of schedule. It looks like it will be a fairly nice day for a parade - I hope the forecasted rain stays away until the parade is over.

Thank you Celtics for bringing home another championship to Boston!

MBTA Fare Evaders Watch Out

First - the Red Sox just won the first game of the season. Woo-hoo!!!

Now on to more train news. The Boston Herald published an article this morning about how the MBTA has been running undercover stings to catch fare evaders. This is great news for those of us who either purchase commuting passes (both commuter rail passes and CharlieCards) and for those of us who are taxpayers. I know that part of the T's job is to collect fares, so it seems silly to praise them for doing their job. But since fares aren't always collected (especially sometimes on the commuter rail lines), then maybe we need to continue to positively reinforce the issue to ensure that every cent is collected.

The T's Transit Police have already issued 262 fare evading citations this year, compared to just 99 for the same period last year. A fare evader receives a $15 citation for their first offense. Second offenses are billed at $100 and third offenses cost $250. That's a steep increase compared to the $1.70 fare (if you have a CharlieCard) or $2.00 fare (if you don't have a CharlieCard).

The T claims that prior to the CharlieCard, 3-5% of all riders failed to pay for their trip. Fare evaders cost taxpayers $13.5 million annually.

"Grafton Train Rider" Submits a Concern to the MBCR

"Grafton Train Rider," who I wrote a post about last week, just submitted a "concern" to the MBCR this morning. The concern involved the fact that fares were not collected the outbound P533 train last evening.

Here is what "Grafton Train Rider" wrote:

Concern Information:
Concern #: 1971-5790515
Date Created: 2/29/2008 10:59 AM EDT
Date of Incident: 2/28/2008
Line: Worcester
Station: South Station
Departure Time AM/PM: 7:15 PM
Train Number: P533
Subject: Conductors did not collect fares
Details: Again, I experienced lack of fare collection - this time on P533 outbound 2/28/08. Your new schedule added 12 minutes to the arrival time to Grafton yet the conductor doesn't seem to have time to check passes and collect tickets on a half empty train?! I validated lack of fare collection with another passenger while departing in Grafton. He commented "Yeah, that is why I don't buy a monthly pass. I priced it out and it's cheaper for me to buy a 12-ride when half the time, the conductors don't collect fares."

I was on the same train as Grafton Train Rider last night. I actually don't know who Grafton Train Rider is, even though we depart from the same station. I know the conductor on the car I rode on did collect fares last night. Nonetheless this is such a frustrating issue - the lack of consistency in regards to fare collection. I would think that every dollar would count when you are a transit system running with a budget deficit.

It would be interesting to see statistics on the number of riders compared to the number of dollars collected.

Thanks for sharing, Grafton Train Rider.

Not Collecting Fares on the MBCR Commuter Rail Lines

Gotta love offsite meetings. You end up with some random time to do other things, like blog research.

So the topic is . . . fare collection. Why oh why are the MBCR conductors not collecting fares? I mean - unless the MBTA/MBCR plans to start running the commuter rail as a charity, the fares are needed. I must believe that every dollar helps. I don't want to have the state double-dip: charging fares AND increase taxes/limit my tax refund because the transportation quasi-public entities need to money.

The Action Bob Markle blog noted that fares were not collected last Thursday on the inbound Worcester-Framingham train. I actually drove into work because I had a meeting, something that was mentioned both on Train Stopping and on Universal Hub.

I guess the MBTA/MBCR entities really aren't businesses. Because, other than fast food restaurants or ice cream stands manned by high school kids, I can't really think of a business that lets you try the product/buy the product without paying for the product.

Interesting Commuter Rail Comment

As mentioned on Monday, I'm out of town on a business trip. So I haven't been riding the train for most of the week.

I wanted to call attention to a comment posted to Train Stopping yesterday. I think this comment raises some interesting points:

As bad as the service is there must be some level of accountability by the riders. People take their time getting on and off the train. It is selfish and inconsiderate for riders to wait until the train stops in order to put on their jacket and grab their bag. Clearly, the service requires drastic improvement, but it is clear the there won't be immediate changes anytime soon. A huge problem on the trains I ride is the excessive amount of time each train spends at a given stop. That is seemingly indicative not only to the service but also the riders slowly moving off the train.

I do believe that riders should try to enter and exit the train as quickly as possible. Especially during the evening commutes, when you know that the train is pulling into your station. Everyone wants to get home, so it does help if people do exit the train as efficiently as possible.

In terms of riders helping to improve the system, we should make sure that our fares are collected. Our fares are used to operate the train. When the fares aren't collected (resulting in a "free ride" if you're using a single ticket or multi-ticket system), we are causing the commuter rail's budget deficit to continue.

Also, one other way to make things "run" smoother. As much as we hate to part with our personal space (myself included), please be kind and either pick up your coat/belongings or stand up and let someone enter your set. The quicker we can get people settled, the more efficient the ride will be. I've got to believe that if people are seated faster, perhaps the conductors will be more apt to collect fares/tickets on those stops that are closer to the destination.

Please continue to share your feedback. I just want to make sure we all experience a better commute via the commuter rail.

New Year, Same Old Issues on the Commuter Rail

Happy New Year 2008!!

This morning's commute, my first in 2008, was fine. The inbound P508 train on the Worcester-Framingham line was running about 10 minutes or so behind schedule. We got to South Station at 8:35 a.m. (the scheduled arrival time for this train is 8:24 a.m.).

The conductors never checked the passes or collected tickets/fares. What a great way to start the New Year!

I hope the MBTA/MBCR do a better job of ensuring that their employees are collecting fares. I can't imagine working as a retail clerk and letting people "buy" things without paying. I'm sure I would lose my job.

I wonder when the on-time performance rates for December 2007 will be posted? I know that Worcester-Framingham line did not meet the standard on-time performance rate of 95%. I just wonder how low their performance was?

Continued Commuter Rail Coverage

Much like the Boston Globe, yesterday's Boston Herald also ran an article about the Commuter Rail.

Boston’s suburban commuter rail service one of least reliable pretty much said everything noted in the Globe.

There was also a post this morning on Boston Now regarding the poor performance.

Any news is good news if it gets the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to issue some changes. I just hope the changes aren't a fare hike.

Outbound - Inbound

I took the 6:05 p.m. Boston - Framingham - Worcester outbound train last night. When I arrived at South Station, the 5:30 p.m. train was still sitting there. So while I got to ride home on the normal 6:05 p.m. train, this wasn't a good thing. Instead of the 6:05 p.m. being a normal express train (meaning it doesn't stop at Yawkey, Newtonville, West Newton, Auburndale, Wellesley Farms, Wellesley Hills, Wellesley Square, and Natick), it turned into a local train and stopped at these eight stations. Instead of my commute being a 1-hour train ride, it turned into a 1 hr., 15 min. train ride. Not fun.

The good news about this morning's commute - the conductors collected fares and checked passes. But the train reverted back to only opening a few doors.

I'll be submitting a reimbursement for last night's extra long train ride.