Economic and Social Impact of the MBTA’s Proposed Fare Increases and Service Cuts; with Further Research on the Commuter Rail

Flores, Alexander Alan

Student Work

Economic and Social Impact of the MBTA’s Proposed Fare Increases and Service Cuts; with Further Research on the Commuter Rail

Public

The commuter rail is more than just another means of transportation. It allows for interconnectivity between cities expanding employment diversity, education, and leisure. The MBTA’s services provide numerous economic and social benefits to the communities it serves and the Commonwealth. - The MBTA is dealing with a financial deficit and rider protest to proposed solutions. For this project, surveys were conducted on riders to test the hypothesis that the MBTA’s proposed service cuts and fare increases would cause adverse economic and social effects as well as a decrease in ridership numbers. A critique of proposed short-term solutions is given and data of the sort that might influence future MBTA decisions is presented.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator