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SOAPBOX: MUCKROCK AND MIRE

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theridembta

In July I covered the unthinkable 100 percent fare hike the MBTA stuck to its disabled riders. Disabled Bostonians rely on The RIDE to get to work each day, to see their doctors and maintain a level of independence many take for granted. So when fares doubled on The RIDE to $4 each way, disability advocates protested the disproportionality: the average T rider swallowed a 23 percent fare increase. The hike looms even larger given stark unemployment among the disabled.

In short, the MBTA raised fares on those with the least give in their budgets and the greatest reliance on the service.

Disability activists charge the MBTA with attempting to price them out of The RIDE rather than address service inefficiencies. The MBTA, in turn, calls The RIDE a “budget buster,” and claims it’s riddled with fraud.

Back in April 2011, before the T debates really picked up, Governor Patrick convened the state’s transportation czars to study transit for disabled citizens. Among the chosen was MBTA manager Jonathan Davis. The commission held hearings across the state (with a particular focus on The RIDE), and was slated to issue its final recommendations in January 2012, just as the T debates were heating up.

But the commission delayed publishing its findings until mid-July, a full three weeks after it might have risked having an actual impact on the T’s final decision.

All of this leaves disabled riders (and concerned citizens generally) with nagging questions regarding the MBTA’s motives and the commission report’s rather convenient delay.

Luckily, the MBTA’s decision-making paper trail, from hearing transcripts to internal emails and memos, is all part of the public record. Anyone can request these documents.

Which is exactly what I (and a like-minded team from Boston’s public records experts at MuckRock) have done. After two months’ wait, the MBTA and the Governor’s office have confirmed they hold 3,846 pages of documents related to fare hikes and service changes for The RIDE.

Now, if you thought public records were provided free of charge in the spirit of transparency and accountable government, think again: in total, Patrick’s office and the MBTA want $1,921 for the hard copies (don’t bother asking for digital).

The decisions from such a critical (and pretty infamously misguided) public agency as the MBTA deserve considerable scrutiny, particularly where one subset of the population bears a disproportionate impact. But neither I nor the good folks at MuckRock have the $2k for ransom. With the public’s help, MuckRock will secure these crucial documents, scan them (lovingly, by hand!), and publish the lot online for all to draw their own conclusions, plus analyze and highlight what we consider the most important bits.

At its core, this is a matter of opening our government institutions and their decisions to constituency oversight. The MBTA, the T and The RIDE belong to the people of Greater Boston. So do their records. With a little help from our friends, we can shine some light on the MBTA’s decision, and answer the questions that trouble many Bostonians, disabled and allies alike.

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TO HELP MUCKROCK SECURE AND PUBLISH THESE CRITICAL PUBLIC DOCUMENTS, VISIT THEIR CAMPAIGN PROFILE ON SPOT.US.




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