Muggers Take Note

The MBTA is nearly doubling the number of cash machines within its subway stations - and the cash-strapped transit agency will pick up an extra $226,400 a year in the process.

The T’s board of directors yesterday OK’d going ahead with leases with Bank of America, TD Banknorth and Select A Branch Inc., to put a total of 19 ATMs in stations, up from 10 that were previously provided by Citizens Bank under a prior contract.

Bank of America won with a $30,000 bid the right to place just one ATM in the busy Park Street station.

TD Banknorth bid a total $132,000 for ATMs at eight sites, including North Station, where it already has promotional bragging rights via its TD Banknorth Garden naming-rights agreement.

Select A Branch Inc. bid $264,400 for 10 sites, including the Government Center, Harvard and Downtown Crossing stations.

MBTA general manager Daniel A. Grabauskas said the contracts were awarded after a “robust competitive bidding process.”

He noted that adding nine new sites also drove up ATM revenue for the T, which previously raised about $200,000 a year via 10 stations.

The five-year contracts with the banks call for annual lease increases tied to the inflation rate, but no less than 2.5 percent per year, the MBTA said.