MBTA Looking To Sell Merchandise To Raise Money

BOSTON (CBS) - The MBTA needs money, and it has come up with a creative way to raise it by selling "T" merchandise like coffee mugs and t-shirts.

Commuters come and go, but the debt just seems to stick around. Now, the MBTA is trying everything it can to get out from under $126 million deficit.

"We can't sit on the sideline for any good idea that will raise us a dollar," said Richard Davey, the MBTA General Manager.

WBZ-TV's Jonathan Elias reports.

Davey said one of those ideas would be to sell "T" merchandise like hats and shirts, and added that it will cost the "T" nothing to produce.

"So for me, it's complete upside, whether we make a dollar or 100 thousand dollars, that's one more dollar or 100 thousand more dollars we would have to invest in the service or to keep the fares low," said Davey.

There's some early ideas for shirts like "Go the Rosie way, Take the T." Rosie is the woman who won the 1980 Boston Marathon by cheating. She rode the "T" instead of running the route.

Another idea could be, "Got snakes? We do." As you may remember, a pet boa constrictor recently got loose and lived on a Red Line train for three weeks.

The time has come for the "T" to figure a way out from under it's debt, and if MBTA-themed shirts and hats will help, then you'll be seeing them soon.

If you have an idea for a "T" slogan, Davey is asking people to pitch it to him on Twitter.

The "T" expects the merchandise to raise between $50,000 and $150,000 per year.