By Selena Burke, News Correspondent
Since the Northeastern branch of Students Against T Cuts was founded last week, members have appeared at a public meeting and joined the city-wide T Riders Union in a rally voicing their opposition to proposed service cuts by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The central Students Against T Cuts group yesterday launched a city-wide petition campaign against the cuts with the goal of gathering 10,000 signatures from Boston-area residents by Feb. 1.
The proposed cuts would increase fares and cut services, including eliminating the E branch of the Green Line on weekends. The MBTA is holding meetings through the beginning of March in order for local community members to share their thoughts – many of which are in strong opposition.
About 10 Northeastern members of Students Against T Cuts along with the group’s founder, Zach Tucker, a freshman stage and production management student at Emerson, went to the Jan. 19 meeting at Roxbury Community College.
Attendees were allowed to share two minutes of their thoughts on the proposals, which the MBTA posted on its website for public consideration. Most people spoke out against cutting services and increasing fares.
Common arguments against the cuts stated it would harm the elderly, poor and disabled riders and it would negatively effect tourism in Boston. Several speakers said cutting services could cause people to drive more and in turn release more pollution into the atmosphere, creating health risks.
Justin Bensan, a middler political science major and founder of the Northeastern branch of Students Against T Cuts, said E Line service is vital for Northeastern and many other area establishments.
“It’s not just us; it’s not just Northeastern,” Bensan said at the meeting. “There are five hospitals, there’s the [Museum of Fine Arts], there’s the Prudential Center, there’s VA Medical Center. It’s more than just Northeastern that we’re fighting for when we say that we want to save the E Line.”
Students Against T Cuts does not have a specific plan on how the debt should be dealt with without increasing fares and cutting services. As of now, they have made suggestions but haven’t proposed a financial plan that would help the MBTA reduce a projected $185 million deficit in fiscal year 2013.
“If I was in the state legislator I’d probably push for an increased gas tax because the gas tax has not been adjusted for inflation,” Bensan said, “which means that the gas tax has less revenue and if the gas tax had the revenue, we probably would have the money to fund a better public transportation system.”
District Eight City Councilor Mike Ross, who represents the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, West End, and Fenway neighborhoods, was at the Roxbury Community College meeting and said the MBTA is funded inappropriately and their solution should be to go to the State House for funding.
“Gas taxes is certainly something that people talk about, he said. “It might just be more reasonable (to raise) income taxes. That we in society pay our fair share, which presently we’re not doing. So, I think that there’s a lot of ways to raise revenue.”
Acting General Manager Jonathan Davis, a 16-year veteran of the MBTA, said the agency must work with the funds available to it. He said the deficit could not be closed by fare increases alone, and it seems like it will take a combination of fare increases and service cuts.
“We’re looking for new solutions,” Davis said. “We would like to hear from our customers and see what we can do to ease the burden if we have to implement fare increases and service reductions, and I think they would have some good suggestions that we could incorporate in a final recommendation that would go to our board of directors.”
Student Government Association (SGA) President Michael Sabo attended the meeting and the SGA on Monday began formulating its official response to the proposed cuts.
The T Riders Union, partnered with Students Against T Cuts, is taking action beyond the MBTA’s public meetings.
The T Riders Union organized a rally Monday, which turned out about 100 people in front of the MBTA building at 10 Park Plaza. Most attendees were older adults, though members of the student group attended as well.
Lee Matsueda, the T Riders Union program director, said the people who have the power to fix the problems are not involved enough.
“I think the problem is with the process is it’s just putting us in a position where riders are choosing between two things that we know we don’t want,” he said. “There are other decision makers who actually can solve this problem that aren’t a part of the conversation in these meetings.”
Bensan said he plans to focus his efforts on a Feb. 1 meeting at Jamaica Plain’s Hennigan Community Center. Yesterday, the city-wide student group organized by Tucker launched a petition campaign hoping to gather 10,000 signatures against the proposals before that meeting. In an announcement, Tucker said members of the group “are marketing the petition to every citizen in Boston, regardless of academic status, because these cuts affect everyone from students to retail workers to nurses to the disabled.”
Tucker said he is hopeful that Massachusetts College of Art and Design, located on Huntington Avenue near the Museum of Fine Arts, will get involved since 75 percent of its students commute. At press time, the “Students Against T Cuts” Facebook page has 436 members. Tucker estimates those members represent about 20 area universities.
During its meeting Monday, Northeastern’s SGA began detailing its official stance on the MBTA proposals.
Sabo said he envisions a “multifaceted approach” to the issue, involving letter writing and social media.
Sabo said when he was a freshman, the E Line train allowed him to “explore the city and have a great connection with the great cultural events, especially for those that are under 21,” like movie theaters and museums.
The junior criminal justice major said it was unfair of the MBTA to cut service so extensively on Huntington Avenue.
“We had nothing to do with it,” Sabo said. “Even if they change the E Line service, that won’t change the deficit.”
Neel Bhadra, an SGA senator from the College of Business Administration, wrote SGA’s formal document regarding the cuts with Sabo. The document, entitled “A Sense of the Senate Disapproving of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)’s Proposal to Eliminate Weekend E Line Service,” outlines SGA’s position against the cuts.
Bhadra encouraged all students to get involved with the cause.
“It really does make a difference,” he said. “Don’t assume that someone else is going to do it. Just go out and do it yourself.”
The document states, “The Northeastern University undergraduate student body opposes any MBTA budget plan that eliminates vital resources to students and the community in the form of service reductions and cuts such as the elimination of weekend E Line service.”
Senator Peter Petrin took some issue with the document.
“It talks about what we’re against without saying what we’re for,” he said. “I’d like to see not just that we know what hurts our community, but also what our community needs.”
The members of SGA voted to include an amendment that would clarify what they support and will have a final vote on the document at their next meeting on Monday.
News Staff Melissa Werthmann contributed to this report.
Youtube video via Students Against T Cuts.
