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COMMUTER RAIL PASSENGERS will no longer be able to get refunds on unused tickets, a change that puts them on the same track as other MBTA riders and could save the agency as much as $400,000 a year.

Members of the Fiscal Management and Control Board voted Monday to end the refund program that allowed commuter rail customers, unlike their strap-hanging brethren, to return monthly passes for a full refund within the first two days of a month, then a half refund by the ninth, and 25 percent back if they returned the pass by the fourteenth day of the month. In addition, rail passengers were also able to return unused 10-ride tickets up to the day before the expiration date. That refund policy is also now at end, as is the opportunity to get a refund for unused and unexpired electronic tickets on smartphones.

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William Kingkade, an official in the MBTA’s fare collection department, said Keolis, the commuter rail operator, pays out about $32,000 a month in refunds. He said the program was inconsistent; only tickets bought at sales agents, and not through corporate programs, were eligible for the refunds. While Kingkade acknowledged commuter rail passes are the T’s highest fare product, no other MBTA fare is eligible for refunds, making it unfair to the larger ridership.

But while the T ended the refund program, board members voted to expand the transit authority’s pilot Youth Pass program, which could cost the agency as much as $800,000 in fare discounts if just 20 percent of those eligible take advantage of it, according to Laurel Paget-Seekins, director of strategic initiatives in the T’s Office of Performance Management and Innovation.

Meet the Author Jack Sullivan Senior Investigative Reporter , CommonWealth About Jack Sullivan Jack Sullivan is now retired. A veteran of the Boston newspaper scene for nearly three decades. Prior to joining CommonWealth, he was editorial page editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a part of the GateHouse Media chain. Prior to that he was news editor at another GateHouse paper, The Enterprise of Brockton, and also was city edition editor at the Ledger. Jack was an investigative and enterprise reporter and executive city editor at the Boston Herald and a reporter at The Boston Globe. He has reported stories such as the federal investigation into the Teamsters, the workings of the Yawkey Trust and sale of the Red Sox, organized crime, the church sex abuse scandal and the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the State House, state and local politics, K-16 education, courts, crime, and general assignment. Jack received the New England Press Association award for investigative reporting for a series on unused properties owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and shared the association's award for business for his reporting on the sale of the Boston Red Sox. As the Ledger editorial page editor, he won second place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Inland Press Association, the nation's oldest national journalism association of nearly 900 newspapers as members. At CommonWealth, Jack and editor Bruce Mohl won first place for In-Depth Reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for a look at special education funding in Massachusetts. The same organization also awarded first place to a unique collaboration between WFXT-TV (FOX25) and CommonWealth for a series of stories on the Boston Redevelopment Authority and city employees getting affordable housing units, written by Jack and Bruce. About Jack Sullivan Jack Sullivan is now retired. A veteran of the Boston newspaper scene for nearly three decades. Prior to joining CommonWealth, he was editorial page editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a part of the GateHouse Media chain. Prior to that he was news editor at another GateHouse paper, The Enterprise of Brockton, and also was city edition editor at the Ledger. Jack was an investigative and enterprise reporter and executive city editor at the Boston Herald and a reporter at The Boston Globe. He has reported stories such as the federal investigation into the Teamsters, the workings of the Yawkey Trust and sale of the Red Sox, organized crime, the church sex abuse scandal and the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the State House, state and local politics, K-16 education, courts, crime, and general assignment. Jack received the New England Press Association award for investigative reporting for a series on unused properties owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and shared the association's award for business for his reporting on the sale of the Boston Red Sox. As the Ledger editorial page editor, he won second place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Inland Press Association, the nation's oldest national journalism association of nearly 900 newspapers as members. At CommonWealth, Jack and editor Bruce Mohl won first place for In-Depth Reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for a look at special education funding in Massachusetts. The same organization also awarded first place to a unique collaboration between WFXT-TV (FOX25) and CommonWealth for a series of stories on the Boston Redevelopment Authority and city employees getting affordable housing units, written by Jack and Bruce.

Under the pilot program, eligible students and young adults up to the age of 21 in four communities including Boston are allowed to purchase reduced fare passes to ride the T even during summer vacations and weekends to allow kids to get to jobs and other activities. The board voted to keep and expand the pilot program, which was slated to sunset at the end of the month. The program will now run at least until September.The Fiscal Management and Control Board approved a proposal from board member Monica Tibbitts-Nutt, who wanted to expand eligibility to adults up to the age of 25 who are in a general equivalency degree program, a community college, or meet low-income guidelines through eligibility in MassHealth, food stamps, or housing programs.

“This is the opportunity to do something good,” she said.

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