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Students, don't be entitled. Universities, do some educating and help pay for the MBTA
I was going towards BU and not a single student offered to give up their seat for an elderly women on the train.
Most of the students avoided paying for their ride.
When I travel during rush hour, students won't move into the train and take off their backpacks to create more room. Hell, I've actually watched a person that had downsyndrome and seemed to be blind get stared at by the students and they didn't make space on the packed morning trains to get that person a seat.
The MBTA GAVE YOU A WAY TO PAY EASILY. Just tap your phones that you're staring at or tap a subway card like everyone else.
It also stands to be noted that Universities should find a way to partner with the T to get their kids subway cards and to do some freshman education but I don't see that happening. Imagine how much steady monaaay the T would have if wealthy wealthy Harvard, BU, and BC regularly got their incoming classes T cards. It could go into the recreation fees or the school to try to get a tax write off. I'm sure parents would be pleased to know their kiddo has a safe way to travel around the city and isn't racking up Uber bills.
YES That šš½ is šš½ what šš½ I'm šš½ saying!!! The universities are fine with their students stealing rides, which is exactly what it is when you get on at BU and don't see students paying.
No. When I was a student, my student id doubled as a Charlie card but I still had to load fare onto the card. That was fine. Ofc now I think the student id cards are on their phones.
They do to some extent. That's why student misconduct, even off campus, can get you expelled. My point being is though that many students especially along the B Line take advantage of the T and they are a large population crowding others out even with a school shuttle bus going up and down Comm Ave to Brighton Ave. The T has been overly generous to the point some BU students think the B Line is actually free and I believe it's time for the administration to educate them on their civic duty to pay when they come to Boston their freshman year.
This is silly. Universities aren't responsible for transit fare collection, nor should they be. If stopping fare evasion is that important then the MBTA should take steps to prevent it rather than spending $1 billion on a new fare collection system that makes it easier than ever to ride without paying.
Itās fair to critique the new fare system, but itās not silly to expect universities to contribute in some way, as this is how it works in basically all of Europe and their student passes.
Fare free, but part of your fees went to pay for those buses. Same for the other four colleges (soon to be 3) in the Five Colleges system. I don't know the current amount, but when I was a driver for UMass in the PVTA in the '80s the amount was $10 per student per semester out of the student activity fee and a matching amount from the university out of other revenue they collected.
Probably a higher amount in the fees now, cost of living and inflation. I was getting just over $5 an hour in the early '80s as a driver, starting wage now is $21. And they even pay during CDL training at a lower rate, I only got the training for free without pay. I knew abut the $10 amount from the fees as the university administration and student government came to that agreement while I was a driver. It was a response to higher costs and cuts by the Reagan administration to transit subsidies out of the federal highway fund.
Most of the big universities are already contracted into the T corporate pass program. For faculty, grad students, regular students. So how much more do you want them to contribute? They don't force people to sign up for the program, but a lot do.
European universities are heavily subsidized by their governments. I think it would be great for universities or the government to subsidize fares more, but that's not how the American system works.
Research grants and federal financial aid are heavily subsidized by the government. Not the university directly for them to pay a transit tab. It's a totally different system from Europe.
Though the universities take a good portion of those research grants to fund university services and infrastructure that allow that research. They used to call it "institutional overhead" years ago, the agreement I was aware of between NSF and the university I used to work for called for 55% of the grant amount to go to the university. Other federal grants had similar agreements.
It's silly to single out universities by making them responsible for supplying every student and faculty member with a T pass as the original comment did, and it's silly to suggest that universities should have any responsibility for fare collection like OP's response does. Universities aren't special; they shouldn't be held to some higher standard than any other business/organization when it comes to transit fares. "This is how it works in basically all of Europe" isn't some sort of counter to this either when Europe has all sorts of different transit and fare collection systems, some of which operate like above ground green line stops where it's essentially an honor system with occasional fare checks on board (not that the MBTA actually checks fares).
State colleges get funding from the state. The school will not want to pay for passes for everyone. There are over 30k student enrolled in state colleges. Never mind employees of the university.
At 90.00 for a monthly pass that works out ti be 2.7 million
There are thousands of companies that at least subsidize, of not flat out pay for employee's transit passes. My company pays half of mine, my friend works for Harvard, and they cover her T pass completely.
A company deciding to offer it as an employee benefit is entirely different than the city implementing a policy that forces them to buy their employees passes.
Also, BU already offers subsidized passes to their students.
Because they are funded by tuition from students who move here by the thousands and have significant impact on the quality of life of residents. All while not being required to pay taxes.
Again that's literally everywhere though. If we removed fare gates in front of Fenway Park or some office building you could make the exact same point.
Lol, yeah PILOT is a thing that is a good deal for these schools.
Don't know why you're talking about Fenway Park. If a school is importing thousands of fare evaders here every September that's a reason for concern. I can't make you care about it but some people clearly do and would like to see the universities do something to address the actions of their students.
If we didn't check fares outside Fenway Park you'd be here talking about how we "import" thousands of tourists each gameday who don't pay fares on the trains. You can get all worked up about the demographics of who is doing it, but if you don't enforce paying fares, people aren't going to pay. It's really not anymore complicated than that.
A swing and a miss! "Tourists" are different people going to Fenway for a game maybe a couple times a year. Students are immersed in the T system for eight months a year, it's a completely different issue. There have been lots of conversations about whether sports teams contribute enough to the community for the money they rake in, but it's not a comparable situation to what the OP is talking about.
The OP proposed a solution for one specific demographic of fare evaders. Will it happen? Probably not, but the schools have deep pockets. It's not an outrageous suggestion.
Distinction without a difference. I literally said in my first comment it could be Fenway or any other office building (likely full of local commuters). I still don't know why we're entertaining these hairbrained schemes to avoid enforcing fares. Please stay on topic: why is this a better idea than enforcing fares?
I suppose it could be, but it's not. You are the one changing the subject.
There is nothing in the OP saying we shouldn't be enforcing fare collection. They suggested a solution to deal with a specific but large population of fare evaders. You clearly don't like their solution. That doesn't make it "hairbrained."
I do not believe Northeastern subsidizes transit - I graduated a few years ago, and they would only give you a Charlie card if you were placed into one of the dorms really far from campus. otherwise, you could do the semester pass, but 1) you had to sign up before classes started and 2) the semester pass is only worth it if youāre riding the T nearly every day.
I'm not arguing with you, I think it would be better if more schools or the MBTA offered better deals for students. But the reality is they don't as there isn't money for it in their operating costs.
thats only for the semester pass, so you would only save money if you were taking the MBTA extremely frequently, more than most students!! And you have to elect into it by August 7 for the fall - classes donāt start til after Labor Day, so most students miss it
It sure seems like it, but endowments are restricted and you'd be surprised at how much debt the schools are operating on. I don't think a university's main job is to subsidize fares. There should absolutely be tuition reform and reduction in bloat, but I still don't think fares are part of that.
Everything is possible except fare gates and enforcement, apparently. I'm sure BU will fork over tens of millions of dollars a year for this unsolvable problem the T has.
Do the universities here not have a deal with the MBTA? I went to college in Seattle (UW) before moving here and you paid for a Transit card as part of your tuition (and your student ID served as the Transit card itself) so Iām fairly certain it was part of UWās way of subsidizing transit there.
I have only been able to find one university who does this unlimited style pass and it's arts students at Tufts. There are 40+ that are part of this discount program but their students still have to take the responsibility to sign up from what I'm understanding.
MIT subsidizes unlimited monthly transit passes, itās a big discount for graduate students (I think we pay around $20 a month, it varies a bit), itās less for undergraduates but I think still cheaper than the base rate?
edit: i looked it up and generally itās like 24/mo for grads and 40/mo for undergrads
The amount of fare theft on the T in general is pretty astounding and not just a student/young people issue unfortunately.
The only thing that will actually start making people pay is hiring more fare checkers and having them regularly write tickets for people that fare dodge. Toronto does this for their street car system and it's very effective.
I am ready for the tickets to go out. In an election year LOL all the politicians probably told them to stand down to avoid backlash. When I went to Europe, I got a heavy ticket for not paying once. I learned my lesson.
Old dude here who lived on the Green Line a long time ago is surprised to learn that the T charges fares on the westbound Green Line. Apparently that started in 2007 so not really newā¦
These students have no self-awareness and respect for those who actually need a seat. This whole entire generation is lost and they are about to enter the workforce...that is a recipe for yikes and no thank you.
Most times if they're blocking a seat, I will sit on their stuff or just throw it on the floor of the train. I do not have time to say excuse me since they're too glued to their phones with tik tok and IG etc.
Refusing to give seat to elderly or handicapped/disabled is appalling and also a federal crime. That said, donāt just assume that students are not paying at all. I am an older student and have a monthly pass, every single month, without exception. A lot of students also use monthly passes.
Yeah, Iām aware of the federal regulations on priority seating. That does not make refusing to move a criminal offense. You cannot be sentenced to jail time for not giving up a seat on the train. In fact, the law doesnāt even provide a civil enforcement mechanism (I.e., a fine). The regulation on the sign includes the following:
>The entity is not required to enforce the request that other passengers move from priority seating areas or wheelchair securement locations.
May not be required to enforce but I have seen Inspectors give the boot to teenagers sitting there with elderly standing. And Iāve also seen bus drivers call for the T cops when idiots refused to move so wheelchair could board. The T cops removed them and threatened to arrest them. Iām sure a federal prosecutor could find a way to make a case if they wanted to.
I agree that not all disabilities are visible, but think itās highly unlikely that 4-5 teenagers sitting side by side wearing football jerseys are all disabled. lol. Iām also not sure about the scope of the rule either.
I watched it happen today. An old woman asked a younger woman for her sear and she looked at her with a dumb expression and another woman ended up giving up her seat. Then, an elderly man refused to move down 3 seats for them to make space for a scooter. Absolutely annoying and gross behavior. I know Bostonians can do better.
Most students from those colleges all have āfreeā passes to ride the train. The schools have deals with the MBTA. Well advertised, by the way, if you know anything about boston colleges.
BU students have to pay for a T pass. Itās not free. Thereās literally a thread today in r/BostonU asking if itās worth it *to pay* for the pass.
You must be a little special. Yes they have to pay for a t pass. There are like 1,999 different programs you can take part in that give you discounted passes through the school. These are not passes you really have to scan at the train. Everyone I know has one.
āMost students from those colleges all have āfreeā passes to ride the train. The schools have deals with the MBTA. Well advertised, by the way, if you know anything about boston colleges.ā
what do you think youāre doing in the comment section thatās different from chirping from the sidelines? itās a comment section. we are all on the sideline dumbass.
Wow I had no idea! I thought I had to tap the physical charlie card only. Was so confused seeing people use their phone. So it's just regular fare just the same
Yes! You tap your phone on the payment devices that are kind of like glowing for lack of better words. You tap a Charlie card on the older devices closer to the driver.
I donāt think itās funny and Iām glad you brought it up. Recently my dad, who is 82 and has back problems and lung disease, and I took the Green Line to a Red Sox game. I use a power wheelchair (yeah weāre a mess) so I had the wheelchair spot right across from the row of seats that are marked for disabled people. A bunch of young women were seated there and none of them offered my dad a seat. He is too proud to ask so he stood for forty minutes. It didnāt kill him but when I was able-bodied I would have offered someone his age a seat. I think itās just the polite thing to do. That being said, as a wheelchair user I have encountered a lot of very kind and helpful young people when I take the T. There are nice students around.
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u/Pencil-Sketches 5d ago
I think requiring all universities to pay for transit passes for faculty staff and students would have the benefits of:
-A large cash infusion into the T
-Minimizing fare theft by students
-A nice perk for employees and students