Pretty poor poll. "What would you prefer a/ eating glass or b/ passing a watermelon." Uhm..how about neither. This isn't raise fare/cut service OR raise the gas tax -- it's fix the systemic problems that are leading to this situation. Even with the proposed hikes/cuts the MBTA is saying we'll still be back at the same point again next year with a budget shortfall once again. And it's not like MassHighway is sitting on top of a load of cash either. Our entire transportation system is crapping out and something needs to be done across the board and the across the State. The MBTA budget issue is just one symptom of the bigger problem.

I'm sorry you dislike the poll, John. It's true - the MBTA's proposal is a short-term fix while increasing the gas tax - depending on how it is done - could potentially be part of the long-term solution to the state's big picture infrastructure funding needs. But it's also true that choosing between these two options could be a decision the state will make.

After speaking with several local state politicians it appears clear that some members of the legislature will offer an increase in the gas tax as an alternative to the MBTA's scenarios that would be a long-term solution.

John W has it exactly right. Your well-meaning poll is never going anywhere and the choice we are given by the T is no choice at all. It is a cynical ploy to set neighbor against neighbor and the T will decide who gets the barbed pole. There is only one position that makes sense: NO SERVICE CUTS. Every service that is under attack is someone's lifeline to job or school or other important destinations. It is up to the governor and legislature to fix the mess that they (or their predecessors) have created.

Ernest Loewenstein
Vice President, Association for Public Transportation

Framed this way, the poll appears to pit one group of cranky commuters against another. But underlying this forced choice is the larger issue of the privatized versus the commons: Of all the industrialized nations, America taxes the least and spends the least on communal benefits like transportation, education, and health care. Instead, most of our national productivity is left in private hands for enhanced personal consumption and lifestyle. This is what we've chosen, this is what we like. But we should not, and can not, be surprised when our public transit stalls out, our bridges fall down, our municipal playgrounds are decrepit, our public health stats are mediocre, and our schools are failing. For a consolation prize, we can get a new Lexus every other year. A few of us, anyway, which helps keep the dream alive for the for the other 99%.

R Philip Dowds is much more charitable that I'm going to be... The way we view funding public works and public services is a national disgrace. We are the laughing stock of the developed world. Most of Europe and all of Japan ride on gleaming trains that run to within 15 seconds of a schedule. They drive vehicles that aren't exported to the united states because the wouldn't "appeal to our market" (translation: they don't consume enough fuel...). We pay 1/3 as much for fossil fuel because we lack the political stones to even timidly SUGGEST a tax on it or any form of hydrocarbon. For all our patting ourselves on the back with our progress in being "green", we are stuck firmly at the back of the pack. We scorn our own public transit systems and turn our backs on them. Until we and our politicians grow a pair we haven't a leg to stand on when grumbling about crumbling infrastructure, fare hikes and/or rate cuts...