>they need ticket sales to provide services.

Except, really no they do not. They need funding ... and there's nothing saying that funding must come from ticket sales .... except, well, you, at hte moment.

If the State decided to throw $3B at public transit ($1B at the MBTA for non-commuter-rail use, $1B making the commuter rail a true, regional / statewide network, and another $1B to improve public transit outside the MBTA's service area) ...? Once service improvements actually happened, and increased ridership ... fares could be REDUCED. Possibly even eliminated altogether.

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>You can’t demand what you aren’t willing to pay for.

I want my tax dollars to pay for a statewide transit authority, with a statewide system of public transit.

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>It’s fair for riders to pay more for the T, especially since the whole state does not get to use the T.

And do you know why they don't get to use it? Because we balkanized the f_cking system. Because we've got dozens of little penny-packet "regional transit authorities" rather than a single entire-State transit authority.

Build out the commuter rail to be a true regional rail system. Take all those penny-packet RTAs under a single umbrella, standardize fares and levels of service across the entire state. Make sure there's good connectivity across the entire system. Make it so you can go from North Adams to Chatham on public transit, without it being a multiday odyssey involving twenty or more RTAs.