When the Clock Strikes Midnight 6 am

When the MBTA rolls the first trains at the start of service on Monday morning it will be on a Sunday schedule for the holiday and the 2007 fare increase will be in full effect. There's still a lot of confusion as to how the changes will effect riders and we're going to attempt to run down the most significant changes below.

CharlieTicket and Cash:
Both these methods will cost the most. $1.50 for a bus ride and $2 for a subway ride, though the subway ride now comes with a free transfer to bus. In theory, you'll also be able to hop off a bus after paying a fare and grab the subway and only pay an additional $.50 when you swipe your CharlieTicket at the gate. Bus to subway only works with a CharlieCard.

CharlieCard:
Finding a CharlieCard if you don't already have one may be the real challenge. Convenience stores and supermarkets that sell T passes and fares should have CharlieCards, the T will likely continue their practice of handing them out to riders at random on busses and subway stations into the new year. If all else fails you can buy one online. The hard plastic card, which looks a little different than the CharlieTicket, is rechargeable at T vending machines and will provide riders with the cheapest per-ride fares: $1.25 for the bus and $1.70 for the subway, again the free subway to bus transfer is in effect and the same theory of a $.45 charge when entering the subway will open the gates for riders.

Streamlined Fare:
No longer will there be exit fares required on the Red Line. Sounds nice, right? It is unless you're a Green Line rider who hopped on the outbound T on surface streets. Green Line riders on outbound surface streets (past Kenmore on B, C, and D lines and past Symphony on the E line) will now be required to pay a full fare for a ride, or swipe/tap their monthly pass when they enter. T personnel with handheld validators will be at the middle doors of the trolleys to help expedite the process, stationary validators will also be installed at green line stops so passengers can get a printed receipt to just show and go to the driver or T personnel. It pains us to pay for a ride on the B line, unfortunately we don't see this as a policy likely to revert.

LinkPass and Bus Pass:
Two issues on this one – the Card vs. Ticket medium on which it is delivered and the combinations available.

Through this month riders have had the choice of Subway only, Bus only or combo passes. The T has eliminated the Subway only pass in favor of providing two options – Bus only and LinkPass (which is essentially the same as the Combo). The Buss only monthly pass will jump $7 to $40, the LinkPass is $59, a $15 jump for those who held Subway only passes and a $12 decrease for those who have traditionally purchased the Combo monthly pass.

Since the T started distributing the CharlieCards Bostonist has discovered that they're a lot more fluid and easy to use – we certainly want our monthly pass to be on one of them. Beware. If you purchase a monthly pass (Bus only or LinkPass) at the ticket window you were once required to patronize you will receive it on a CharlieTicket, requiring a swipe and not a tap. If you take a CharlieCard you've already got, stolen, or purchased to a fare vending machine you can put monthly pass value on the CharlieCard. It seems logical, though we can't say for sure, that if you have a CharlieCard with $10 of stored value you could use that value towards the purchase of a pass. If you want the CharlieCard pass this month you'll have to track down a CharlieCard and use the vending machines, T service windows are only issuing single month tickets.

Recurring Orders:
Those who receive their passes via their employer have received both the CharlieCard and CharlieTicket version of the monthly pass. If you were lucky and got a CharlieCard don't throw it away – your employer will simply recharge it with the monthly pass each month. If you've purchased your pass through the annual recurring order via the MBTA (where you get 12 passes for the price of 11) the T said they will mail one CharlieCard to the user and recharge it for each applicable month. So don't toss those CharlieCards.

Disenfranchising the Poor:
Overall the new fare increase will likely be confusing for a little while – but once riders get over sticker shock of the $59 LinkPass the process of 'tap and go' will be just as easy as in those MasterCard commercials. The one serious gripe we have about the whole increase matrix is the cost for cash fares. It's disenfranchising for those who live paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to shell out the $40 for a Bus monthly pass, let alone $59 for the LinkPass. Charging more for cash fares give an advantage to those who already have money, and taxes the poor who can't afford to store value upfront. Sure you can add $1.25 at a time for individual bus rides to the CharlieCard, but that provides another step to inconvenience poor riders.

There, of course, have been glitches and many other complaints. But it's the T, we don't expect anything less. Much of the information on fares, and all the images we used, and more can be found on the MBTA's new website. We'll continue to keep abreast of the changes and let you know how things work out.