Although the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officially passed its final budget proposal Wednesday, many Bostonians said they hesitated to express their approval of the measure.
“They’re in a bit of a pickle,” said Daniel Lampariello, a Suffolk University sophomore and a “Boston to a T” blogger, referring to the public’s response to the MBTA’s official proposal to close its $185 million budget gap for fiscal year 2012-13.
The proposal, which will go into effect July 1, is set to include a 23 percent fare increase and some service cuts, said MBTA Spokeswoman Lydia Rivera.
Under the plan, bus fares will climb from $1.25 to $1.50 and CharlieCard subway fares from $1.70 to $2, according to an MBTA press release.
The 30-cent increase on subway fares will be “fine” for him as a college student, Lampariello said.
“As a college student, I use the T every day,” he said. “I’m still going to keep paying for it, and 30 cents won’t make a big difference for me.”
In fact, increasing prices is a valid move on the MBTA’s part, he said, because “people need to use the T, and they’ll pay either way.”
Fare hikes are better than drastic service cuts, said Megan Green, an Allston resident who stood at the Boston University West T stop on the Green Line as she explained her perspective.
“If I had to pick, I’d rather pay the 30 cents more because I need the T to get to work,” Green said. “But $2 a ride is still pretty pricey for me.”
She said the service cuts would not always affect her as much as price hikes.
“But I know that so many people depend on certain routes, and once they’re gone, they’re gone,” Green said. “At least with the price hikes, they can then lower prices again.”
But Noah McKenna, a representative from Occupy Boston’s Occupy the MBTA working group, called the T’s proposal “unacceptable.”
“One of our goals is to stop those . . . fair hikes and service cuts . . . from going into effect,” he said. “We need a transportation plan that helps to build equality and helps the 99 percent. The Legislature has continued to procrastinate and now they’re attempting to directly pass the bill against the most vulnerable citizens.”
He said Occupy the MBTA sees the fare hikes and service cuts as “false choices.”
“Unless the state government tries to intervene,” Lampariello said, “as of right now, we’ll be in the same place next year.”
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