Boston University students may have to take a few more steps during their daily routine if Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials implement drastic service cuts due to a $160 million deficit in their budget for fiscal year 2010.
According to an internal MBTA budget document obtained by The Boston Globe, authorities at the MBTA are considering large cuts in subway, bus and commuter rail service if state legislators do not bail the MBTA out of its debt with money from a possible gas tax increase, the Globe reported Friday.
Green Line cuts would include removing the stops BU East, BU West and Pleasant Street on the B line, Brandon Hall, St. Paul Street and Hawes Street stops on the C line and eliminating E line service on the weekends. Commuter rail service would end at 7 p.m. on weekdays and be eliminated completely on weekends.’ Bus and subway services would also be cut by 50 percent on weekdays after 8 p.m. and all day on weekends.
The agency is also considering fare hikes that would lead to an estimated $85 million in revenue, but the exact amount of the proposed fare hikes is unknown, according to the Globe.
The cuts would eliminate 805 jobs and affect almost 52 million commuters annually, according to the Globe. The proposed cuts were met with mixed reactions by local residents and college student commuters.
‘Thank god,’ Fenway Park sports photographer Robert Simmons said. ‘I take the B line to work every day, and there is no need for the subway to stop every block.’
BU College of Arts and Sciences freshman Leticia Laines said she disagreed with most of the cuts, but said she thinks the B line will not suffer if BU East is eliminated.
‘BU East is a stop they should really get rid of, and St. Paul Street is practically pointless,’ Laines said. ‘But they should keep BU West.’
Emerson College senior Susanna Battiston called the B line cuts an ‘absolutely fabulous idea.’
‘The B line is very frustrating, as it stops every block or two,’ Battiston said. ‘The biggest problem would be reducing the number of trains since they are already packed.’
Mount Ida College freshman Christian Mendoza said she was concerned how the cuts would affect winter transportation.
‘It will cut down mobility for commuters and traveling will be hard during the winter,’ Mendoza said.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate student Marvin Bayro said reducing the commuter rail service is a mistake.
‘Fewer stops on the Green Line is a better idea than getting rid of the commuter rail since it does take too long,’ Bayro said. ‘However, it will ultimately be a higher cost for the MBTA since people will find other ways to commute.’
MBTA officials had not replied to emails or phone calls by press time.
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