Boston transit fare increase proposed

BOSTON, July 9 (UPI) -- Boston metropolitan area transit fares would rise nearly 20 percent under a proposal that would give the regional transit agency an extra $69 million a year.

The 19.5 percent fare increase would raise an adult bus fare to $1.50 from $1.25 and mid-zone commuter rail ticket to $6.75 from $5.75, said the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which operates most Boston-area bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems.

Tourists and others who pay cash or use Charlie Tickets, rather than more cost-effective CharlieCards or monthly passes, would be hit hardest, seeing the price of a subway ride jump to $2.50 from $2, the agency said.

An electronic CharlieCard subway fare would rise to $2 from $1.70.

The CharlieCard is named after a fictional character in the "Charley on the MTA" folk-music song, popularized by the Kingston Trio in 1959, about a man named Charlie trapped forever on the Boston subway system, then known as the Metropolitan Transit Authority, or MTA, because he couldn't pay the fare required to exit.

The proposed fare increase, which follows a $160 million state bailout of the agency, will be the subject of 13 public workshops and hearings next month and must be voted on by the MBTA board of directors, The Boston Globe reported.

The cash-strapped agency, staggering under the weight of a $5.2 billion debt load, falling tax revenue and rising expenses, did not say when the proposed fair increase would go into effect.

About 30 cents of every dollar in the agency's operating budget is used for debt repayment, the Globe said.