And/Or and the MBTA Forum

[TheLorax]

Too good not to share: Boston's public transportation system, the MBTA, is having a funding battle which hinges around a distinction between AND and OR, an important distinction to make for LSAT test takers out there...

Fare laws say that the MBTA "shall not increase fares at intervals of less than 24 months or at an annual rate greater than 5%." Some people think that the law allows only 5% percent increases every two years, but it looks like when we parse this sentence we get:

increase fares at intervals of less than 24 months -> shall not increase at an annual rate greater than 5%

increase at an annual rate greater than 5% -> shall not increase fares at intervals of less than 24 months

Essentially, the T only needs to abide by one of these two restrictions when raising fares, not both. To force abiding by both restrictions, we would've needed an "and" instead of an "or". The catch is that state legislators think that the law limits fare increases to "no more than 5 percent every 2 years." Sounds like they need to catch up on the differences between and and or.

Article Here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/ ... story.html