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  • MBTA Fare History - 1970's

  • Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #6518  by cw0829
 
I "remember" joyriding the T on Sunday's for free in the 1970's exploring new and different stops, but am having trouble validating that. Does anyone remember this as well. I was a poor college student at the time, and don't think I'd have paid to joyride.

TIA,
Cathy

 #7010  by TomNelligan
 
Around 1974 or 1975 the MBTA had a long-running promotion called "Dime Time" where the midday (and weekend?) subway and bus fare was just ten cents, in an effort to boost ridership at a time when the system had been loosing passengers. Maybe that's what you were thinking of? Or maybe they did have some free Sundays then; I was also a college student at the time and you know how our memories are now...

 #7161  by cw0829
 
HI Tom, yes, I remember Dime Time as well, which I understand to have been just on weekdays. The following link is to a historical retrospective on the T, which you might find interesting.

http://www.stlibrary.org/TChronicle.html

Surprisingly, my husband also remembers free Sunday fares, but then again, he's even older than I am...

Thanks for your reply.
Cathy

 #9017  by nightowl
 
How did dime time work? Did the turnstiles accept coins in the 70's? Or were tokens just a dime? If so wouldn't people just buy a bunch of tokens for a dime and use them at non-dime time times?

Really I just like the phrase "dime time". The article Cathy linked too had these related dates:

April 2, 1973 Dime-time introduced-Experimental reduced fare program for all persons entering rapid transit stations between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., Monday through Friday.

September 1, 1975 MBTA's minimum surface fare raised from 20 cents to 25 cents.
 #9030  by TomNelligan
 
They didn't reconfigure the turnstyles or anything like that -- you just deposited ten cents into the cash fare box at the change booth.

Dime Time was the idea of a friend of mine, Brian Cudahy, who worked in PR and community relations for the MBTA in the 1970s. He later went on to similar positions in Chicago and Washington, DC. He's also the guy who in the 1970s wrote the book on the history of the Boston transit system called "Change At Park Street Under".

 #29232  by Ron Newman
 
I remember Dime Time but also remember it being strictly a mid-day, weekday-only affair.

There was also a program that allowed anyone with any pass at all to ride the whole commuter rail system for free on weekends. I don't remember when this began and ended, but I think it was some time in the 80s or early 90s.