Community Corner

'Fix the T' Calculator—How Would You Close the Budget Gap?

An online calculator, launched by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, let's people play around with the T's budget and find solutions to it's fiscal woes.

, but there's still a $161 million budget gap in the MBTA's upcoming budget.

So, how would you fix the problem?

A new online calculator, launched by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, lets people fiddle around with various options for finding the solution.

Find out what's happening in Back Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For instance, the calculator lets you raise the gas tax by 1 cent, which would put $27.7 million into the MBTA's coffers. Or, you could institute a 50-cent surcharge on fares for large events, earning $5 million.

There are 31 options in all, and the calculator lets you play around with them to find the right balance of fare increases, service cuts, non-fare revenue streams, cost transfers and state funding possibilities.

Find out what's happening in Back Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Want to play? Click here.

Let us know in the comments section below how you fixed the budget. Who knows, maybe your solution is just what the T is looking for.


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