Politics & Government

Committee Submits Plan for MBTA Overnight Service

One local group is attempting to revive late night public transit in Boston.

By Bret Silverberg

Though the Night Owl is a distant memory, one committee is working to revive overnight MBTA service in Boston.

The MBTA Rider Oversight Committee, a group composed of riders, advocates and MBTA employees which is affiliated with but “editorially independent” from the MBTA, has submitted a plan to fund late night service, according to a press statement Friday.

Through the plan the MBTA would create new revenue by offering area colleges the chance to purchase unlimited use transit passes for no less than 100 percent of its student body. In exchange, the MBTA would then offer semester passes at a mark-down greater than the current college student discount, the statement says.

“The program would be mutually beneficial since the students would be granted free access to all MBTA subways, light-rail vehicles, and buses, while the MBTA would receive additional revenue from the increased pass sales,” the statement says. “Furthermore, the MBTA would be required to use that additional revenue to provide overnight service, which would be a benefit to all MBTA riders.”

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The model is based on the Chicago Transit Authority’s U-Pass program, which generated $25 million in revenue in 2012, according to the committee.

The Night Owl bus service, which ran buses from the end of service at 1 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., existed between 2001 and 2005,but was too costly to maintain.

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The MBTA is saddled with an estimated $9 billion in debt, and officials have argued that late night service would be far too costly to be sustainable given available resources. One major issue working against late night service, for example, is the short time it allows for crews to perform critical track maintenance.


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