From The Socialist Equality Party-No to Cuts at the MBTA (In Boston)!-For a Socialist Program to Defend Jobs and Services!

Socialist Equality Party-No to Cuts at the MBTA!-For a Socialist Program to Defend Jobs and Services!

The MBTA is planning deep cuts to the transit system relied upon by millions throughout the Boston area. The T is seeking to make working people pay for a crisis that is not of their making. Along with the cuts in services, the jobs of more than 500 T workers are also threatened with elimination.
The Socialist Equality Party insists that affordable mass transit is a social right that is not negotiable. Not only should cuts to existing services and fare hikes be resisted, there should be a citywide offensive for improvements to services. Instead of cutting jobs and services, more workers should be hired to overhaul the system, which is in a state of disrepair and plagued by breakdowns.
The driving force for the cuts to the T are principal and interest payments on $5.2 billion owed to the banks and other predatory lenders, which consume nearly 30 percent of the system's operating budget. The T's primary source of funding since 2000 is a 20 percent share of the statewide sales tax —itself a retrogressive tax that disproportionately hits working people.
The starting point for addressing the financial crisis of the MBTA should be the repudiation of the debt. The banks and financial institutions have already received billions of dollars in bailout money from the Obama administration. Now working people are being asked to accept fare hikes and service cuts in order to pay back the debt at extortionate interest rates.
Citing a projected $185 million operating deficit for fiscal year 2013, T officials are appearing at public meetings across the region where they are pitching their proposals. MBTA General Manager Jonathan Davis and other officials no doubt see these meetings as a means to allow residents to let off steam. The so-called "consultative meeting" is a method used time and again to give a democratic
veneer to social cuts that have already been decided. Whether in relation to the school closure proposals last year, or the cuts in public libraries, angry denunciations from the floor of these meetings are routinely ignored.
The two alternative proposals presented by T officials are equally bad and unacceptable. One proposal would raise fares by an average of 43 percent and eliminate 25 percent of bus routes. The other would raise fares by an average of 35 percent and eliminate 75 percent of current bus routes. Both proposals eliminate commuter rail services on weekends and after 10 p.m. on weekdays. Services on the Green Line's E Branch and Mattapan Trolley would be eliminated on weekends. All MBTA ferry routes would be eliminated outright.
T officials have admitted that under both plans, the jobs of about 525 MBTA workers are threatened —this under conditions of widespread unemployment in the area.
The steepest fare hikes will hit those least able to defend themselves. THE RIDE, which provides services for the disabled, will see steep fare increases, plus the introduction of "Premium" fare trips outside the fixed route service area, or for trips before or after hours, or those booked the same day. With many people unable to pay the new rate, this amounts to an elimination of a vital social service.
The claim that there is "no money" to finance the T is a lie. There are more than 58,000 millionaires in the Boston area, with nearly one in 20 families worth at least $1 million. Over the past two decades the wealthiest households in the state have seen their incomes rise five times faster than the poorest and twice as fast as those in the middle class.
Boston has some of the country's top educational institutions, such as Harvard and MIT, with massive endowments and tuition fees over $50,000 a year. Clearly the issue here is not a lack of money, but who decides how the money is to be spent.

For more information visit the World Socialist Web Site at http://www.wsws.org

From The Archives Of Today's Youth In Struggle- The Fight Against Layoffs-Fare Increase-Service Cuts In The Greater Boston MBTA System

Markin comment:

Good slogans but here is one that sums everything up- free, quality mass transportation now!

STAND UP FIGHT BACK!

Join the Youth Affordabili(T) Coalition

We Say: The State Needs To Fund The "T" Now- Stop The Hikes-Stop The Cuts
-Create A Youth Pass So We Can All Afford To Ride

2/13 4:30pm Rally and 6pm Hearing at Boston Public
Library (Copley)
2/14 4pm "Have a Heart" Action at State House
Testify at MBTA hearings (Find the schedule at
www.YouthWayontheM BTA.org/YAC)

Find out how to take action at www.YouthWayontheMBTA.org/YAC

Like "Youth Affordabili(T) Coalition" on facebook

Follow ©YouthWay on twitter

Your Opportuni "T" Is Under Attack!

Proposed HIKES

X Student Monthly LinkPass:
$40, 100% increase

X Student Charlie Card, Bus:
$1.10/ride, 83.3% increase

X Student Charlie Card, Train:
$1.50/ride, 76.5% increase

X Regular fare, Bus: $2.25,
50% increase

X Regular fare, Train, $3.00,
50% increase

X Huge increases for Seniors
& Disabled

Proposed Service Cuts

X No Night or Weekend Service on the Commuter Rail, Green Line E Branch, or Mattapan Trolley

X Elimination of 101 Bus Lines (Check if yours will be gone: www.YouthWayontheMBTA. org/YAC)

If the MBTA proposals pass, will you be able to get to:
any place?

Did you know the MBTA's debt was created by the State House?

Did you know your T fares pay for Big Dig debt?

Why should youth and students have to pay?! [Markin: Why, indeed]

THERE ARE OTHER SOLUTIONS!