The MBTA Board of Directors unanimously voted yesterday to increase subway fares to $1.70 from $1.25 and bus fares to $1.25 from $.90, approving the third increase since 2000 despite public outcry from Massachusetts residents, Mayor Thomas Menino and Governor-elect Deval Patrick.

The board meeting opened with a public forum and reviewed testimonies by state workers, union members and students who voiced concerns over the proposed fare hike, which will be implemented city-wide in January 2007.

The MBTA last raised fares in January 2004, increasing subway fares from $1.00 to $1.25 and bus fares from $.75 to $.90.

Dorchester resident Bryan Koulouris lashed out at the board for even considering the fare jump.

“I can’t afford this over and over and over again,” he said.

“As if the evidence of our lives aren’t enough — the people who are working harder are falling on the back of the debt crisis,” he said. “Two weeks ago, The Boston Globe shared a study that worker productivity is up 50 percent. We’re working harder, longer and smarter. People who have lived in Boston for years are going to have to find work in different places — people are going to be pushed out of the city, and you are going to lose thousands of riders each week.”

Jeff Booth, a Somerville resident, said he will likely find himself in a similar state of financial desperation now that the proposal has been passed.

“If you pass this, I’m going to become one of those tens of thousands of people that will be walking a whole lot more,” he said.

“The T fare increase is a tax on working people,” Booth later said. “If you vote yes, you’re going to cause working people a lot of pain.”

As the public forum came to a close, MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas delivered his General Manager’s Report, first noting that 50 out of 68 stations are now equipped with Charlie Systems.

“We’re on schedule to have all subway and buses converted to Automated Fare Collection by the beginning of December this year,” he said, adding that stops on the Green Line will also be included.

“We’re finalizing plans to get Charlie Cards in the hands of all of our customers — about one million will be available,” he said.

However, following the public forum filled with objections, each board member voted in favor of the price hike.

“I’m really not surprised,” Koulouris said. “It means a lot of difficult things for me, but I know that people will still have it even worse than I will.”

MBTA board members are appointed by the Massachusetts governor and include John Cogliano, the secretary of transportation to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who was appointed by Gov. Mitt Romney in 2005. The current board is largely Republican.