I can hear the train as it moves past

[sovay]

I appreciate that the MBTA's newly voted fare hikes are not as comprehensively gouging as they could have been, but it's a kind of negative appreciation. The system needs real money and it needs to come out of the state, not the ridership. I am one of the people who doesn't have a car in Boston; I shouldn't feel penalized for not contributing to the congestion of the streets and the atmosphere. Or for not being able to bike everywhere, rain, snow, or shine. Five miles is walking radius for me, but sometimes I am sick or exhausted or carrying groceries and sometimes I have a lot farther to travel. I really wanted a governor who cared about public transit. Dammit, ethical artichoke.

Comments

[selkie]

I don't want to widdle on anything no one in the conversation can change, but: $2.40 flat each way? Where do I sign up?

I pay $3.05 to get to work and $3.65 to get home (Metro essentially has surge pricing and I commute with everyone else in the evening), plus $2.00 each way for the bus. We do not have a functional bus pass system because our regional buses do not harmonize and I use buses in two states.

All for the same mythical schedule and on-fire service. Sigh.

[sovay]

(Metro essentially has surge pricing and I commute with everyone else in the evening)

I consider surge pricing on public transit especially bullshit. The Metro-North had "Peak" and "Off-Peak" fares and no imagination should be required to guess which one was commuter hour.

I include the D.C. Metro in my list of "American transit systems that need major overhaul yesterday." I'm just not sure how to get it in an efficient and non-grafty fashion. Privatization is Not It.

[selkie]

Me, driving, is definitely Not It. I've killed many a car and I don't want to start on squishier things. I want to save all my murders.

[sovay]

I want to save all my murders.

One does want to be discriminating.