Comments on: Last Call on the MBTA

By: List of Nine Things Boston Did First | The Blog @ Directory of Boston

List of Nine Things Boston Did First | The Blog @ Directory of Boston — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:12:26 +0000

[...] won’t have to go far to find someone bad-mouthing the T, but hey at least we can add it to our list of firsts! Besides, for a system over a hundred years [...]

By: Adam Pieniazek

Adam Pieniazek — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:51:27 +0000

Hmmm, good guestion dude. I’d imagine a large chunk of their income also comes from the airport but am curious how much comes from the bar crowd. There’s always taxis flying around late night on the weekend here since there’s no other option.

By: dude

dude — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:01:35 +0000

Great idea, but first we have to squash the cabbie lobby. I wish I had numbers on how much of their income came from the post-2AM bar crowd

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:24:21 +0000

Want to extend the MBTA’s hours? Speak out by joining this facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=78574113862

By: Adam Pieniazek

Adam Pieniazek — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:39:06 +0000

First up Seth, highly support your statement to not drink and drive! Your right that a late night T service will likely rely on buses rather than trains. Though, I also think Randolph left a good comment above that perhaps late night train service could be used only on Friday and Saturday, leaving the rest of the week’s schedule as is for maintenance.

Perhaps having a Night Owl pass would help push late night T service as viable and maybe even profitable. If such a pass cost $10-$20, I could see a large group of people buying them, especially if it was the only way to get on the late night T (or if it represented a significant cost savings).

Though, IFC makes a great point above you Seth that the T’s bus service is severely lacking. It’s the main reason I chose to use trains in my example as I feel many more Bostonians would ride a late night service if it was train based, while busses might be viewed as unreliable.

In either case, if we want to discourage DUIs and encourage nightlife we need some sort of late night option.

By: Seth Simonds

Seth Simonds — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:16:34 +0000

I think there might be some middle ground to be found in the issue. Shutting down and opening back up doesn’t make much sense from a logistics standpoint. If it was made readily apparent that a supply of paying riders is ready to board public transit at 2am and nightlife is something the city wants to encourage, then perhaps it’d be better to run trains later or bring back the buses.

I think you’ll get the buses long before you get the trains.

Don’t drink and drive! =)

By: After-Hours Boston « Safe Digression

After-Hours Boston « Safe Digression — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:24:59 +0000

[...] 11, 2009 · No Comments I saw a great post last week by Adam Pieniazek advocating a restoration of the late, great MBTA Night Owl late-night transit program as a premium-fare service targeted [...]

By: IFC

IFC — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:39:26 +0000

I’m not sure about the N.O. pass either. As a frequent user of public transportation, it is a bit crazy to me that people haven’t figured out the free Charlie Card thing yet. Out-of-towners excused, of course. I don’t see too many people paying with cash though.

As much as I hate to bring it up, I think the issue of service is somewhat unavoidable. Especially in this case, when we’re talking about buses being the only option. The Boston area bus service sucks. Flat out. It is far from dependable. A couple weeks ago, I was waiting for the 66 at 12:30PM on a Saturday to Harvard from Allston. I waited. And waited. It was close to 2 before it finally came. What could possibly make the bus so late at that time of night, and why couldn’t they send another bus? And let me tell you, it wasn’t warm that night… I don’t know. Maybe the buses would be OK, but I have a feeling it still wouldn’t be something you could really rely on.

By: Adam Pieniazek

Adam Pieniazek — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:46:44 +0000

You’ve got a good point Marc. Providing routes that cover 50% of the public’s needs would also be a good way to test the system and see if we could extend it out to try to cover more ground later. Though, I’d another route goes up Mass Ave to Edward Everett Square, then down Dot Ave to serve Dorchester too (largest neighborhood in Boston plus likely that a lot of patrons of the late night service would reside in Dot). Still, your greater point that having the option of taking the T to at least get closer to your end destination would likely deter some DUIs is likely true.

IFC, if we go the bus route I see no reason we can’t have buses run all night. The maintenance issue becomes null for buses since they don’t run on tracks that need daily repairs. Obviously, cost and usage would likely be huge issues at those hours.

Hmmm, I like the idea of NO passes Kmacjp. Though, I think buses would and should still accept cash. What about clueless tourists stuck somewhere at 3AM with loads of cash but no idea what an NO pass is? Guess they could take a cab but maybe we could charge $6 for people without an NO pass. Still, the fare skippers become an issue. Assuming that a lot of people using the NO service would be college students, perhaps we could force some of the colleges to subsidize part of the NO cost?

By: Kmacjp

Kmacjp — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:04:56 +0000

AMEN! Especially if the buses picked people up at bars/theater district. I suggest that the T sell Night Owl passes in advance at regular T kiosks, though, and accept no cash on board. I remember when the original Night Owl service (RIP) was running, tons of drunk kids would try board with no $, or not enough $. Of course the drivers would still take the kids home, which is the responsible thing to do, but I’ll bet that was a big part of why NO was not profitable. If there were a NO pass that you could buy in advance, and you KNEW you needed to have in order to get on board, there might be hope. I’d pay A LOT for one of those passes, man.