All Things Travel: Logan's Downtown Travel Challenges

BOSTON (CBS) – As of June 1, airport passengers taking mass transportation from Logan to downtown will pay three different prices.

The Massachusetts Port Authority Board of Directors voted last Thursday to raise the price of the Back Bay Logan Express one-way bus ticket from $5 to $7.50 in each direction. The free trips with a MBTA Charlie card will be eliminated at the end of the year.

Free Travel on the Silver Line to South Station will continue with free connections to other MBTA subway lines.

Some people might choose to take buses to the Blue Line MBTA Station and pay about $3 to travel to Government Center. A fare increase is scheduled for July.

Massport spends several million dollars a year subsidizing the bus routes. Logan has the highest rate of alternative transportation passenger use of any major airport in the country.

The challenge for Logan arriving passengers is to figure out which is the cheapest and fastest way to get to where they want to be. It may also depend on the time of day of arrival at the airport.

This is where a smart phone will come in handy.  You would hope that by January,  Massport would have an app available to help the new arrivals.

The MBTA needs to reduce the deficit. Here are three suggestions.

First, sell a three-day Visitor Pass.  The MBTA now only offers a daily or seven-day pass.

Second, install a fare collection equipment at the Silver Line South Station arrival area inbound for people who come from Logan. That would be the same fare collection system used by people going to the airport from South Station.

Third, relocate the Back Bay Logan Express service and move it to the empty Watertown car barn site and start service every half hour at a cost of $10 for one way and $15 for round-trip.

The Back Bay Logan Express originally began because the Government Center T station was closed for two years as it underwent an upgrade. Massport will revisit  the need for this service late next year.

All Things Travel reports with Bob Weiss can be heard on WBZ NewsRadio 1030.