And you wonder why the T is losing money…
Yesterday they didn’t collect fare from me on the commuter rail going inbound OR outbound. The cheapskate inside me was beyond overjoyed, but as a person seeing the shambles that the MBCR is in, I was disturbed.
I hate taking the commuter rail, because I live in West Newton and it’s only 15 minutes to Yawkey, 20ish minutes to Back Bay and South Station. $4.75 seems a little steep for such a short ride, especially when it’s not even on time half the time. When Matt and I go places together, it’s usually cheaper to drive. When we go to dim sum in Chinatown, we can park in a lot for about $12, and pay about $2.50 in tolls. That’s less than $15, and it’s $19 for us to take the T to South Station (round trip). If we wanted to change at Back Bay to get to the orange line and get off at Chinatown, it’s almost $26 round trip. (More if we forget our Charlie Cards!) They don’t have free transfers.
So, as someone who is very thrifty, especially with a baby on the way, saving that $10 yesterday was actually somewhat helpful. But why aren’t the conductors collecting fares? I’m an infrequent commuter rail rider, but at least 50% of the time I’m on there, they don’t collect fares.
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That used to happen to me a lot when I took the commuter rail from South Station to Newtonville (and back) to visit Eric. If memory serves, my fare was almost never collected on the inbound trip. I think it might be because Newtonville and West Newton are so close to the beginning/end of the route, the conductors don’t even bother collecting tickets at that point (not justifying it, just trying to rationalize). I agree with you though, that with the train system in financial trouble, the conductors should be more diligent about “conducting.”
I think you’re right about it being so close. Maybe they know they’re ripping people off with that $4.75 fare! (Especially when going all the way to Worcester is $7.75! It doesn’t make sense!)
the fare system for the commuter rail is extremely flawed. I live in JP, and could take the commuter rail or orange line to Forest Hills for $1.70. But say I lived in Roslindale, a mile or two further, and still in the city of Boston? $4.75! The fare all the way to providence isnt even double that, how does this make sense?
The fares they don’t collect are a drop in the bucket compared to all the other deficits on their balance sheet.
Pick up a zone 1a 12 pack pass and it will last you a year. it’s only $20 and is supposed to be for SS to BB and Yawkey, but I don’t think they’ll hassle you.
The same thing happens to me all the time when I get on in Lynn or Swampscott. They just don’t bother collecting.
Sean — I agree with you that the CR’s fare system is seriously flawed. It doesn’t make sense that it’s $4.75 to go from Boston to Newton (even going from Yawkey to Newtonville is $4.75 and that’s only one stop!) but going from Boston to WORCESTER is only $3 more. Makes zero sense. I thought the $3.50 rate that they used to have was much more reasonable.
Slim — Thanks for the advice about the Zone 1A pass. I will give that one a shot!
I also live in Newton and take the D line into Hynes and transfer to the CT1/1 to University Park. I won’t even get into the number of people who board the T without paying or validating their cards/tickets. The bus however is another story. You can only board through the front door and there has been numerous times that the driver has waved the passengers on without collecting fares. Many of these instances the card/ticket reader is out of order and one instance the driver was trying to get all of the passengers on so that he did not get stuck at a red light.
I’ve gotten two people contacting me from the MBCR asking me to divulge the information about which trains I was on, likely so they can figure out which conductors neglected to collect fares. I am not giving this information to them, as I don’t want to rat out the conductors. The conductors on the commuter rail are always very nice. Maybe they know that the Zone 2 riders are getting ripped off by the outrageous prices.
I have, however, told them that they missed the larger issue at hand about my post on the commuter rail: the flawed fare system for Zone 2 of the commuter rail. Why does it cost $4.75 to go as short a distance as Yawkey to Newton, but only THREE MORE DOLLARS to go from Boston to Worcester (more than 40 miles!!)
And no free transfers!! $6.45 ONE WAY to go downtown? OUCH.
This blog entry makes me wistful for the days when the T cost 85 cents!! And it really wasn’t that long ago. I lived in Boston 1992-2007 and for quite a while in the 90s the fare stayed the same (for the commuter rail too). The T used to be such a bargain.
I’d say that $1.70 for the regular T still is a bargain compared to other cities for the most part. But I liked $1.25 more :-) I also don’t like that if I forget my CharlieCard at home I have to pay two bucks.