MBTA briefs: Highest-paid T employee made $315,000 this year, 2,500 sign fare hike petition

The MBTA employee with the biggest paycheck this year earned $315,000 and worked 4,455 hours, according to a report.

The unnamed worker clocked 2,600 hours of overtime on top of a base salary of $85,000 and a back pay sum of $59,000, MBTA’s Chief Administrator Brian Shortsleeve told the agency’s oversight board Monday, according to the State House News Service.

About one in four T employees earned more than $100,000 in 2015 in gross pay, Shortsleeve also said. By comparison, 7.7 percent of government employees in the executive branch earned six figures or more this year, the report found.

MBTA wages – which average $35.58 for rail employees and $34.99 for bus operators – are above the national average by 30 and 50 percent, respectively, according to Shortsleeve.

In other MBTA news, Shortsleeve touted the benefits of updating the T’s fare-collection technology and adopting an “open payment system” allowing riders to open accounts to pay for tickets. Updating the system could happen in as few as three years, he said.

Also on Monday, advocates said 2,500 people have signed a petition urging the T to limit fare increases to no more than 5 percent every two years, and to maintain the system’s current level of service, the News Service reported.

The agency’s fiscal and management control board has been consideringways to cut the T’s budget, and will soon vote on bumping up fares and scaling back services like the the Ride, the door-to-door transit for disabled riders.