I-Team: Many MBTA Passengers Getting Free Rides
BROOKLINE (CBS) – The MBTA is under scrutiny as the state tries to figure out how to fund and fix it.
For several days in a row, however, the I-Team watched as passengers got on board the Green Line trolleys for free. The trains were packed with commuters and students and few seemed to have their Charlie Cards scanned.
"There have been a few times where I just walked on," one rider with a monthly pass acknowledged.
"If a train is packed and you just show them the card and they're like OK fine," said another.
The I-Team rode the C line during a morning commute, starting the day with a $10 balance on a Charlie Card.
After getting on and off multiple times, we were never forced to scan the card and neither were other commuters. Finally, on the last trip when the train was emptier, a conductor waved and asked for our fares.
"It's an incredible problem and not only is it a problem financially, it's a problem symbolically," said Senator Bruce Tarr, the Senate Minority Leader.
Tarr says as taxpayers are asked to pitch in more to fund the T, they need to know everyone is paying their way.
"It's hard to say to the public, and we've heard this repeatedly over the last several years, we need more funding, we need more revenue and then someone gets on the train and sees fares not being collected," he told the I-Team.
"We think based on our fare revenues continuing to climb, we do believe a vast majority of our customers are paying their fare," said Frank DePaola, General Manager of the MBTA.
DePaola says more than half of all customers have pre-paid monthly passes. The I-Team met up with DePaola at the Reservoir stop in Brookline during what the MBTA calls a "Fare Collection Blitz."
On that day MBTA staff scanned Charlie Cards before riders got on the platform. Most did have money on the cards. Others were told to go to the booth and add more.
But most days, that doesn't happen. "If we had to do this at all stations, we really couldn't afford to have the staffing," says DePaola.
Dipaola says the cost of more staff and the inconvenience during a busy rush hour makes it impractical to crack down more.
"Especially on the surface stations, when we open all doors, we're sort of relying on the honesty of our customers."
There's no concrete way of knowing just how honest customers are. According to the MBTA revenue is up almost 23 million dollars.