When going to school in Boston, students are familiar with the most convenient yet dysfunctional form of transportation, the MBTA. As many commuters know, the MBTA is nowhere near perfect. If you are taking the green line you are more than likely going to be late for whatever you’re going to (don’t get me started on the B line branch), on the orange line you’re probably going to see some shady things go down, and the system can barely function properly when it rains or snows.
On March 21st Government Center reopened after two years of construction. When you step into the brand new station you’re amazed at its cleanliness and advancement. Then once you get on the train and screech into Park St. you are reminded of what a train wreck the MBTA is (no pun intended) and how the problems will not see any improvement any time soon.
While the opening of government center showed that the MBTA is trying to make improvements, the recent announcement that fares would be increasing did not make customers happy. The cost of a subway ride with a Charlie Card will be increasing from $2.10 to $2.25.
For the past two years I have lived in Boston and have relied on the MBTA as my main form of transportation, as I am sure many other college students do. Many of the stations are dirty, the service is slow, and there are constantly delays. Why should we have to pay more when the service is so flawed? The MBTA also ended its late night service, which forces us to either go home before 12:30 AM or pay surge prices for Ubers. Rumor has it MBTA riders should expect even more cuts.
Many riders have protested, urging other riders to “fight the hike”. The MBTA says their intent is to deliver better service and that takes money. Hopefully they will continue to gradually make improvements. For example, the MBTA said they are going to work on fixing the signal problems, which causes many delays. If there are definite improvements to come, a lot of people will probably deal with the fare hike and let’s face it, while flawed, it is still the most affordable mode of transportation in Boston. Looks like we will have to suck it up and hope for the best for future generations.