The MBTA is proposing to raise the price of bus, subway and commuter rail rides by an average of 6.3 percent beginning July 1 in order to raise more than $32 million in new annual revenue.
The proposal, which is subject to public input and must be approved by the Fiscal and Management Control Board, would see the price of a bus ride increase by 10 cents to $1.80, the price of a subway trip climb by 15 cents to $2.40 and the price of a monthly link pass, which allows unlimited subway and bus trips, rise $5.50 to $90 per month.
MBTA officials say the proposed increases would be the first time in three years that MBTA fares have gone up and that the increases for all fare types will be less than 7 percent. By state law, the T can't raise any fare by more than 7 percent, nor can it raise fares more than once every two years.
"This is, I think, a modest fare increase," said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. "It keeps pace with inflation, and I also think doing it on a periodic basis where the rise is not quite so dramatic, I'm hopeful this lands a little bit easier than in the not-so-distant past when the fare increases were larger."
Poftak says the additional revenue is needed to contain its budget deficit amid rising expenses.
Public hearings on the new fare proposal will be held in February with a decision by the MBTA Board in March. If approved, the new fares would take effect July 1. The last fare hike was in 2016 with an average 9.3 percent fare increase adopted.
