BOSTON (WHDH) - Commuters already irate on the first day of the MBTA’s latest fare hike had to deal with the latest malfunction on the rails when the Mattapan trolley went down Monday afternoon.
Power problems stretching on for hours required shuttle buses to replace the trolley service between Ashmont and Mattapan hours after the T raised fares 5.8 percent across the board — a hike that was protested by commuters and officials.
#MBTA #Mattapan Trolley:
Shuttle buses replacing trolley service between Mattapan and Ashmont due to an overhead power problem.Please expect delays as buses are sent. pic.twitter.com/K98U6o4ad6
— MBTA (@MBTA) July 1, 2019
Trolleys came back online about two hours after they went down. The outage also came after two high-profile derailments in June, one on the Red Line and one on the Green Line, and commuters held rallies Sunday and Monday to protest the hikes.
“I have no choice but to deal with it because that is my only transportation,” T Rider Stephanie Mattier said. “That is my only license right there. The MBTA, the Charlie card.”
Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu is protesting the hike and calling for the T to be free.
She wants to pay for this service in other ways such as increasing the gas tax and bumping fares on Uber’s and Lyfts.
“Not a single person believes the service deserves a fare hike or is even up to standards,” said Wu, who led the protests.
That wasn’t the only issue Monday, as riders said some Red Line cars did not have air conditioning on a day where temperatures hit 80 degrees.
@MBTA @7News this is insane. #redline #boston no air in this car 01808 at all. Looks like a few ppl could pass out. Why was the cost raised… Just insane.
— Tayla (@tgillls) July 1, 2019
Earlier, Governor Charlie Baker said his administration has increased investments i the MBTA by allocating $8 billion in the coming years.
Now, he says that money will be put to work updating the current operating system.
“All of which for the most part is 50, 60, 70 years old and I am as frustrated as everybody is about how long this takes,” Baker said.
Add the two derailments over four days in June, riders say they are left longing for results.
“The Mattapan trolley’s not running, the power’s down, forget about it,” said commuter Antonio Graves.
MBTA officials say these hikes are just a necessary step to improve service.
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