Another thing you can't buy with a dollar

Starting in January 2004, the MBTA will implement a 25 percent increase in T fare, changing the rate from $1 to $1.25 per ride.

This spike in prices will have implications for Tufts students (and their wallets), many of whom, dissatisfied with the quality of social life on campus, are increasingly traveling into Boston.

According to officials, the MBTA is implementing the fare increase in order to maintain "current levels of service." The fare increase is the MBTA's latest attempt to deal with a struggling economy, a decrease in riders, and a rising debt.

The increase comes at a time where Tufts students are more frequently venturing into Boston in search of parties. Though the University tries to offer students a variety of engaging activities as alternatives to the scaled-down fraternity scene, many students find the party scene at Tufts inadequate and often use the T to find "better" parties in Boston.

"People go into Boston because nothing exciting happens here," sophomore Felipe De Brigard said.

Freshman Racquel Davey agreed. "There are just more things to do off campus."

Unsurprisingly, very few students are enthusiastic about the change: "You've got to pay that extra quarter, and it adds up," Davey said. But Davey, like many other students, has no choice: "I have no other form of transportation," he added.

"I don't have enough money," De Brigard said. "But it's mandatory for me to take the T three times a week. I'll have to change the way I organize my expenses."

Other Tufts students see the fare hike as more of an annoyance than anything else.

"I'll just have to grab a quarter on the way out," freshman Adam Heller said. "But it's still not as bad as New York City." Even with the hike, Boston subway fares are some of the lowest in the country. In New York a one-way ride on the MTA costs $2.

Students are also concerned about the increase in motor vehicle traffic that could result from a price increase in the T. An increase in vehicle use around the Boston area, they feel, could only add to the related problems of drunken driving, traffic, parking, and pollution.

"Traffic in Boston is bad enough," senior Keara Conway said. "Now parking is going to get even worse."

One group that is especially worried about an increase in T prices is environmentalists. They fear that the fare increase will add to the congestion in Boston's already overcrowded streets, worsening the city's environmental situation and adding pollution to the air.

"I can't imagine that the Big Dig isn't causing major harm to the environment in Boston," Heller said. "Now this price increase will put even more people into cars." Environmental concerns aside, most students have no choice but to deal with the increase. Exceptions to that rule, however, are those students with cars.

"The fare hike probably won't affect me and my friends," Conway said. "Most of us have cars."

Through the fare increase, the MBTA is hoping to generate between 25 and 41 million dollars for the struggling transportation program. This increase comes three years after the MBTA was forced to limit spending under a state mandated annual budget. Before 2000, the MBTA had no spending limits, operating under a blank check system in which a bill was sent to the state at the end of every fiscal year to cover its expenses.

In a town once famous for its fare increase protests, there has been little public debate on this year's fare hike. Many feel that other options - including comprehensive studies of possible alternatives and the negative effects this policy will have on riders and the environment -- should have been exhausted before enacting the fare increase. While raising fares seems to be an obvious answer to a rising debt problem, a fare hike might actually scare away riders, compounding the problem. In September, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney controversially overturned a state law barring fare hikes in any year with a four percent decrease in ridership.

The price increase from $1 to $1.25 for the T and $.75 to $.90 for the bus is expected to go into effect January 1, 2004.