MBTA cuts local bus routes

LYNN – Local bus route cuts set to begin this weekend mirror service cuts and fare hikes that, for now at least, may be the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s main solution to its financial problems. Beginning Saturday, the Route 431 bus will not run after 6 p.m. between Central Square and Neptune Towers. The 431’s Saturday schedule will be changed to eliminate the 6:13 p.m. and 7:13 p.m. buses from Central Square and the 6:18 p.m. and 7:18 p.m. trips from Neptune Towers.The 431’s Sunday trips from Central Square at 6:43 p.m. and 7:46 p.m. will be eliminated along with the 6:48 p.m. and 7:51 p.m. Sunday runs from Neptune Towers.The T is also altering dropoff locations for the 441 and 442 buses from Marblehead to Wonderland. On weekends the buses will drop off passengers at Wonderland station’s North Shore Road entrance instead of the busway entrance on the other side of the station.The MBTA is citing low ridership in announcing its decision to cut service beginning March 23 on the Route 459 bus from the Western Avenue bus garage. The intention of that route was to provide service between downtown and Logan Airport, which is now served by the Silver Line.The route cuts coincide with financial tough times for the MBTA.The collapsing economy is driving down state sales tax collections, a portion of which is dedicated to the MBTA and provides the agency with its single largest source of cash. Maintenance on the century-old system is constant – and expensive.The MBTA board of directors approved a new budget that includes a $160 million shortfall, which the agency says it cannot cover with its limited revenues and largely depleted reserves.Contrast those problems with the agency’s financial good news: Rising gas prices are funneling record numbers of riders to its fleet of buses, subway cars, commuter trains and ferries and its fare collections are expected to grow by $4.5 million in the coming fiscal year.Without it, MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas said the agency will have to raise fares and cut back on services just as it is hoping to lock in a new generation of riders. The T has already raised fares three times – more than 75 percent – during the last eight years.”As a business that provides a service, we have more riders than we’ve had in 112 years,” Grabauskas said. “But because we are a subsidized service, I am about to hit the wall.”The plight of the MBTA is part of the larger transportation reform debate on Beacon Hill. Gov. Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Senate have each released transportation reform packages.A highlight of Patrick’s plan is his proposal to increase the gas tax by 19 cents. Under his plan, a portion of that tax hike would got to the T – enough to cover the $160 million hole and avoid fare hikes or service cuts for the new year.Critics have long complained that the MBTA, which serves 175 cities and towns, hasn’t done enough to rein in spending – including benefits that allowed employees to retire after 23 years of service.Grabauskas said he fought all the way to arbitration but lost when he tried to extend the number of years a worker had to put in to retire with a full pension to 25. He also wanted to create a minimum retirement age of 55.Grabauskas had more luck forcing MBTA retirees to pay more for their health care, including increases in co-payments and deductibles.The reform packages under consideration by the Legislature would either enact stricter retirement rules like those pushed by Grabauskas or turn MBTA employees into state workers, requiring them to abide by the same benefit structure as other public employees.Grabauskas said public transit shouldn’t be seen in a transportation vacuum.”Public transportation doesn’t just move the people who are riding, but is also supporting the roadway system,” he said. “If the MBTA were to disappear overnight, the 1.3 million people who take the T every day would absolutely overwhelm the roads.”Although he’s crossing his fingers and hop