MassINC recently published a report on fare equity that confirmed what most of us already know: the lowest-wealth Commonwealth residents pay more of their incomes to get around the state than wealthier folks. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the MBTA’s commuter rail network, a public investment many moderate- and low-income Gateway City taxpayers cannot afford.

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Joining Tracy and Ben on this week’s episode to talk about how commuter rail fares exacerbate inequities is Lee Matsueda, co-executive director of Community Labor United. He has noticed legislators are starting to acknowledge that much more needs to be done to make public transportation environmentally sound and accessible to all. Lee also emphasizes that regional transit authorities should have the same assurances as the MBTA, given Gateway Cities’ reliance on them for local mobility.

Lee, Ben, and Tracy also ask, what do we actually mean when we say ‘fare equity’? And what does all this mean for transit-oriented development?