Future Deficit Forces T into Tough Choices

MBTA officials have proposed service cuts and fare increases to deal with a projected $130 million budget deficit for fiscal-year 2014—if, that is, there is no increase in funding from the state.

Director of strategic initiatives for the MBTA, Charles Planck, said at a MBTA finance committee meeting that in order to close the budget gap, T fares would need to go up 33 percent, which means subway fares would move up from $2 to $2.60, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

There was also talk at the meeting of a 15 percent fare increase coupled with the possible elimination of up to 30 bus routes, according to the Globe.

Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled an ambitious transportation plan in February that would potentially raise $1.02 billion per year for the next 10 years, some of which, if lawmakers adopt the proposal, could go toward MBTA services. The MBTA budget for fiscal-year 2014 is due April 15, the Globe reports.

Somerville is served by a number of bus routes in addition to the Red Line, which makes stops in Davis Square and nearby in Porter Squaure. It is also served by the Orange Line, which is just across the Somerville border in Charlestown. The MBTA is building a new Orange Line station in Somerville's Assembly Square that could be operational by 2014.