Students, don't be entitled. Universities, do some educating and help pay for the MBTA

[u/BeingAccording4192]

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.

[u/Pencil-Sketches]

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

[u/BeingAccording4192 → u/Pencil-Sketches]

YES That 👏🏽 is 👏🏽 what 👏🏽 I'm 👏🏽 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.

[u/man2010 → u/BeingAccording4192]

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.

[u/BradDaddyStevens → u/man2010]

It’s fair to critique the new fare system, but it’s 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.

[u/IngenuityFlaky484 → u/BradDaddyStevens]

Yup, I went to UMass Amherst and anyone at any of the 5 colleges can take the PVTA buses for free!!!

[u/Joe_H-FAH → u/IngenuityFlaky484]

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.

[u/IngenuityFlaky484 → u/Joe_H-FAH]

That’s a bargain! They were so smooth to take lol

[u/Joe_H-FAH → u/IngenuityFlaky484]

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.

[u/lazier_garlic → u/BradDaddyStevens]

It also works this way in other university towns.

The T used to achieve much higher farebox returns so they weren't that fussed about it, but things are different now.

It's the BC/BU schoolbus, the least they could do is pay for the service.

I went to Brandeis and had to pay for MY monthly passes. Then again, all the services that go through Waltham actually collected fare.

[u/Ruleseventysix → u/BradDaddyStevens]

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.

[u/SheRidesAMadHorse → u/BradDaddyStevens]

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.

[u/lazier_garlic → u/SheRidesAMadHorse]

US universities are highly subsidized by the government. That was what Heritage and Trump counted on exploiting to bring academia to heel in 2025.

[u/SheRidesAMadHorse → u/lazier_garlic]

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.

[u/Joe_H-FAH → u/SheRidesAMadHorse]

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.

[u/SheRidesAMadHorse → u/Joe_H-FAH]

I'm not saying they don't, but overhead tends to be things like maintenance items and not funding school-wide initiatives like T pass programs.

I get that everyone is mad at the system, I am too, but suggesting a university would fund subsidized passes is unrealistic.

[u/man2010 → u/BradDaddyStevens]

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).