For the second time in three years, officials from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority proposed a 25 percent fare increase, an authorization that could hike T token prices from $1.25 to $1.55 and bus prices from $.90 to $1.15 by 2007.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas proposed the 25 percent fare increase to stay consistent with past increases. The last time the MBTA raised its fares was in January 2004, when subway fares increased from $1 to $1.25 and bus fares rose from $.75 to $.90.

According to a Feb. 23 article in The Boston Globe, the new system may also eliminate some of the T’s fare policies, such as ending the free above-ground outbound trips on the Green Line and free exit fares at the Quincy and Braintree stations on the Red Line.

Paul Regan, the executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board, said the plan’s details are still being worked out as officials try to develop rates for transfer riders.

“The new fare structure, which allows for link fare, will allow the transfer between bus and subway,” he said. “It will be a better deal for those dependent on public transportation.”

Regan said the MBTA’s $8.1 million budget deficit was the main reason for the fare increase.

“The MBTA is millions of dollars short for next year and with fuel and other cost increases, they are left without much of a choice,” Regan said. “This is a serious situation and the MBTA is making a straightforward choice to alleviate costs that are not in the MBTA’s control.”

Pesaturo attributed the increase to the rising cost of fuel, health insurance and maintenance, as well as plans to implement the Charlie Card system.

“The Charlie Card system will cause some major changes and force us to look at the fare structure on the whole and take transfers into account,” Pesaturo said.

Plastic cards and paper tickets, known as Charlie Cards, will allow customers to add value to their card rather than buying tokens each time they ride, a system similar to New York City’s Metro Card, according to the MBTA website.

The automated fare collection, which MBTA officials plan to install by the end of next year, will determine transfer fares based on the length of a trip rather than using a flat rate through tokens or cash, Regan said.

Pesaturo said in a Dec. 9, 2003 article in The Tech that the 2004 fare increase was aimed to lessen the MBTA’s $25 million gap between revenue and expenses.

On Mar. 9, the MBTA Board of Directors will submit their new budget plan to the Advisory Board who then gets 90 days to review and make changes to the plan.