The Student Union hosted a town hall forum last night on the proposed Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority fare hikes and service cuts to hear opinions from students who would be affected if the changes were to take place.

Student Union President Herbie Rosen '12, Student Union Vice President Gloria Park '13 and Senior Vice President of Communication and External Affairs Andrew Gully ran the meeting.

Rosen opened the forum by explaining the possible changes to the MBTA, which include two different scenarios. According to a document published by the MBTA last month, one scenario would include fare hikes that could rise as high as $2.40 for a subway ride and $7 for a ride on the Fitchburg commuter rail line into Boston from the Brandeis/Roberts station. In addition, it would include service cuts. The second scenario would include "slightly lower fare increases but larger service reductions." In both scenarios, commuter rail service into Boston on the weekend and weekdays after 10 p.m. would be cut.

Students who attended the meeting voiced objection to the proposed scenarios, saying that they would negatively affect students' ability to travel to and from Boston. One student, who wished to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, said that higher fares and decreased service would result in fewer people traveling into Boston to shop and spend money, which would hurt Massachusetts' economy.

"The entire eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island region, which is like seven and a half million people, [is] going to be affected in one way or another because of this," the student said. "We need to basically say as students … who use the commuter rail, we will not stand for this."

Other students noted that while many local residents who would be affected would rely on cars more, this would not be feasible for many college students who do not own cars.

Those who attended the forum also discussed prospective students' decisions to come to Brandeis because of its proximity to Boston and the ability to go into the city via commuter rail. They said that college students would be affected more than other local residents because of their already constrained budgets and inability to rely on more expensive forms of transportation, such as taxis and cars.

"[This will] disproportionately affect college students versus other people," said Asaf Reich '12.

Gully noted that the cuts will not only affect students but also staff and faculty, who utilize the commuter rail to commute to and from the University.

In an interview with the Justice, Park said that the meeting, which was attended by three students, was "small-scale" but that "it was good to see that students cared ... and shared their opinion."

Park said that she looks forward to spreading the word to the student body.

Rosen said that the Student Union will move forward by sending out a survey and petition to the student body and preparing to attend one of the MBTA's local town hall -style meetings. One such meeting will be held in Waltham at the Government Center Auditorium on March 1 from 6 to 8 p.m.