Local residents say they are driving to Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint for cheaper fares, cutting back on school activities that involve flying and skipping nonessential meetings.
"Boris Johnson has proven to be a typical Tory as mayor, raising fares, cutting services and standing up only for the powerful or wealthy in London".
And all are being tasked with carrying out an agenda that includes standard GOP fare, from cutting taxes for the wealthy to rolling back banking regulations.
But riders' advocates expressed dismay on Thursday that the authority was still raising fares after cutting service.
By slashing fares and cutting frills, entrants like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue have grabbed a chunk of America's domestic air travel market.
"I just hope the bailout doesn't delay the process of raising fares and cutting routes," he said, "because it is good for us".
Gene Russianoff, a lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy organization, said Mr. Walder had pledged to avoid raising fares or cutting service in 2012, and he called on Mr. Walder's successor to honor that promise.
The MBTA will stop using two employees to run each Orange Line train, part of a plan approved by the agency's board Wednesday to balance next year's budget without raising fares or cutting service.
But some systems that raised fares last year, including those in Houston and Cincinnati, lost riders, which could be an ominous sign for the many systems that are raising fares and cutting service this year.
