Concerned about the effects of proposed fare hikes and service reductions, MBTA riders and elected officials packed the War Memorial at Newton City Hall Tuesday night to voice their opinions and ideas. 

Eighty-five people signed their name up to comment at the standing room-only meeting, the first of 20 that will be held across the state. Throughout the evening, speakers underlined concerns about transit accessibility for disabled and elderly patrons as well as local students.

"The disability community needs to be taken into consideration as you work through these situations that may be very difficult for you, but for us are life changing," said Watertown resident Brian Charleston, who works at the Carroll Center for the Blind.

Charleston, like many of the other patrons at the meeting, is visually impaired and moved to the Boston suburbs based on the accessibility to public transit. 

The MBTA is considering two scenarios to help tackle its $161 million budget deficit; one scenario includes a 43 percent fare increase with fewer service cuts and the other has a 35 percent increase with more service reductions.

Both scenarios cut a significant number of bus routes in Newton, including the 52 and 59, which serve local schools, the library, Carroll Center, supermarkets and City Hall. Each scenario also eliminates Ferry service, weekend E Line service, weekend Commuter Rail trains and Commuter Rail trains on weeknights after 10 p.m.

MBTA Acting General Manager Jon Davis, who was present at the meeting, explained that much of the deficit has stemmed from rising utility and health care costs, a lack of growth in sales tax and a debt from the Big Dig project.

Davis said a decision on the fare hikes and service cuts will be made by the end of March and those changes would be implemented by July 1.

Concerns for disabled and elderly

One common concern last night was the increase to rates for The RIDE, a door-to-door transit service that serves commuters who cannot use the fixed MBTA routes. 

Bob Hachey, president of the Bay State Council of the Blind, said The RIDE fares will disproportionately increase compared to the average bus or subway fare and place the cost burden on the disabled and elderly who use the service. 

Under both scenarios The RIDE service would cost two times that of the base Charlie Ticket price and would include "premium territory" price for those areas beyond 3/4 of a mile of a bus/subway stop or for same-day service requests.

Several people at the meeting also noted the importance of bus routes for the elderly. Newton Ward 5 Alderman-at-Large Brian Yates stood up and spoke about his mother's experience with the 59 bus, and how it got her around Newton to run errands and buy groceries when his father was unable to drive.

Rick Morin, who also serves on the Bay State Council of the Blind, said both scenarios are "extremely onerous" for the disabled community and compared the MBTA's decision to "Sophie's Choice."

Service to students

The student population, both grade school and college, also came out in full force last night. A number of Newton middle school students waited in line to stand up to the microphone and share their experiences with riding the MBTA buses to school. 

Newton parent Alicia Bowman, whose children use the 52 bus to get to Bigelow Middle School, said almost 500 children live within walking distance of the 52 and 59 bus.

"This is not the time to cut back," Bowman said. 

Calling on local legislators

MBTA Advisory Board Budget and Policy Analyst Brian Kane suggested riders contact their local legislators and ask them to help find solutions to the transit system's debt crisis. 

Until that crisis is solved, Kane said, MBTA officials will be coming back "year after year" looking for assistance from riders. In addition, the transit system will not be able to tackle its "giant" capital problems.

"If you're angry about these proposals and cuts, contact your state legislators...and tell them to take back the debt because until they do that, we're going to have to keep doing this," Kane said.

In addition to the 20 community meetings, comments on the proposed changes can also be made by emailing fareproposal@mbta.com, calling 617-222-3200/TTY 617-222-5146 or by mailing a letter to:

MBTA attn: Fare Proposal Com.
10 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116