Thursday, December 04, 2008

Hmm...

Maybe this isn't the best time to raise parking prices at MBTA lots?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What I have observed in commuter rail parking lots is carpooling to the train to avoid the increased parking fees.
Regardless, it's still a bargain over fighting traffic and producing those gastric acids from the stress.
Sit back, read the paper, a book, listen to your personal choice on a headset or sleep!
The Europeans had it right when they taxed gas to pay for mass transportation.

Ryan said...

A bargain? Maybe to you. But the point is that there's a lot of people who just can't afford these increases - and it's not as if public transit was free or cheap beforehand. It's supposed to be a service that anyone should be able to afford, at least without tremendous sacrifice, and I don't think it's that right now.

If we want more people taking public transit, which should be something everyone wants (including drivers - less traffic), then we ought to work to make it more affordable, not less.

Anonymous said...

Get the state to pick up the tab, spread it around to all the citizens and maybe your parking can be free. I'd love to subsidize your need to get into Boston. Then the parking in Worcester can be free too, and I won't have to pay the dollar an hour it costs me the few times I visit downtown Worc. Heck let's get rid of all the meters everywhere too, it's unfair to make the specific people who use something pay for it.

Ryan said...

That's not what I said. Of course people should chip in. But it's in the public's best interest to have public transportation that's convenient, cheap and available to everyone. Between parking and passes, you could be talking $4500 a year for some people to commute into the city if they use the rail system, on top of expenses to own a car (another few thousand a year, assuming its paid off). Many people who work in the city only earn 30-45, that's a hefty chunk of their entire salary that could be going into the local economy and creating jobs - maybe even your future job.

There's a reason why good public transportation that's truly affordable is smart policy; I'd rather the money go into the economy than out of it. No one's asking for a free handout, but by pricing people out of public transportation, it hurts the economy and the ability for people to gain employment.

Anonymous said...

You've advocated getting rid of the tolls and spreading the cost to the rest of the state by increasing the gas tax. Just kind of figured this is the same type of thing, make us out west pay for your convienence. Out here there is no public transportation, maybe there should be a special tax for municipalities that are serviced by any public transportation. I'd be OK with that, if you get a benefit you pay for it.

Anonymous said...

First, I'm totally against raising MBTA fares or parking prices.

But it makes good economic sense to raise the price of a finite resource in the face of higher demand. The price increase should have a rationing effect and discourage people from using the MBTA lot.

Yes, it may discourage some from using the T all together, but since ridership is increasing, that isn't a problem as far as the T is concerned.

I'm against increased rider costs for the MBTA, but it's not like these lots are expanding along with the increased ridership.

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