The MBTA is preparing for what is likely to be its first round of public reaction tonight to its proposed package of fare hikes, but state retailers won’t be among the groups fretting.

Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said his industry views the increases as the best way to right the T’s finances and infrastructure.

“Fares are probably the best way to fix the financial problem, because it is truly a user fee, better than a tax increase,” Hurst said. “I don’t believe it would be in any way a barrier to workers or consumers to come into Boston either to work or shop. We’re not opposed to the increases. We’ve got to shore it up and we’ve got to fix the T.”

The T is hosting its first public hearing since rolling out the proposed increases at 6 p.m. at Breed Middle School in Lynn. The proposal will increase prices either 6.7 or 9.7 percent on average, depending on which plan the T board selects. Changes to the commuter rail schedule also will be on the agenda tonight.

In a statement to the Herald, MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola said the authority and its Fiscal and Management Control Board “are committed to improving the transit system with the valuable input of our riders and taxpayers.”

Tonight’s Lynn hearing will be followed by hearings tomorrow in Brockton, Wednesday in Malden and Thursday in Concord. A Feb. 2 public hearing will be held at the Transportation Building at 10 Park Plaza.

The hikes would go into effect July 1. The T, facing a $242 million deficit next year, looks to generate between $33.2 million and $49.4 million in additional money from riders to help cut down on its massive maintenance backlog.

Under the plans, the cost of a monthly $75 Link Pass for the bus and subway would rise to either $82.50 or $84.50, meaning a regular rider could pay $90 or $114 more per year.

While business interests may not be opposed, T riders still traumatized by last winter’s record snowfall bringing the system to a halt are expected to be out in force at the public hearings.

Rafael Mares of the Conservation Law Foundation, which monitors the T, said riders were much more comfortable with a system where fares went up a predictable 5 percent every two years per law, not the current package proponents argue complies with the law mainly due to the semantic difference between a “fare” and a “pass.”

“You’re going to hear from people that this isn’t the time for a fare increase if you consider the shutdown of service last year,” Mares said. “This winter has hardly started … it’s still an old system and we’ve already seen some problems with the cold. It’s sort of too early a time to have that conversation” (about fare hikes).