The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s electronic and physical mailboxes were filled to capacity with complaints and suggestions for the T’s impending budget changes.
The transit system received 5,783 emails and about 400 letters in the last three months after soliciting comments about the T’s proposed fare hikes and service cuts, according to a preliminary analysis of the public’s response the MBTA released last week.
“[The response] was pretty mixed,” said MBTA spokeswoman Lydia Rivera. “You do have some people who don’t want a fare increase at all and others who would not mind an increase but would not enjoy service reductions.”
Of the email comments analyzed, 78 percent of customers said they oppose cuts to the T’s services, while only 24 percent mentioned that they oppose fare increases, according to the report.
More than half of the emails came from bus customers and about 60 percent of all the emails asked the MBTA to maintain bus services.
The MBTA has also received more than 50 letters from elected officials – 65 percent of which oppose service reductions – and more than 100 letters on behalf of various organizations.
The report also listed preliminary tallies the MBTA gathered during the 30 public meetings it held across the Boston area after proposing two scenarios in January that would help the T close its estimated $161 million budget gap.
During the meetings, the MBTA garnered 1,808 comments from the 5,924 people who attended, according to the report.
Attendees expressed their opposition to weekend commuter rail cuts – nearly 180 people spoke against them – but the report noted that similar amounts of people also opposed cuts to bus services, fare increases and cuts to late-night commuter rail service.
These preliminary numbers – which represent only about half of the meetings’ data – contrast with the numbers of people who said they support MBTA proposals.
Twenty-one people said they supported fare increases, nine people said they supported the T’s first proposal – which would involve a 43-percent fare increase overall – and no one said they supported the T’s second proposal, which includes a 35-percent fare hike overall.
“We have taken every comment, every petition . . . and we will incorporate it into the final feedback into the board,” Rivera said. “We wanted to make sure the customers were able to voice their opinions.”
Sarah Grey, a Newton resident waiting at the Babcock Street T stop, said bus line service reductions would impact her the most negatively.
“I use those buses to get to work, so I would be okay with a bit of a fare increase,” Grey said. “And so [do] many other people each day as well. It’s going to hurt us.”
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I just want to say that I don’t mind a fair hike. But the bus route I take still ha problems. For the last three years the 32 bus route had a serious late problem continuous schedules missed with no bus showing for at least 20 to 40 minutes late. This is a daily problem if you fix this problem the price hike would be worth it.