Late-night weekend transportation around Boston is back in the hands of the cabs and ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft.
This afternoon, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority unanimously voted to eliminate late night weekend T service in its latest effort to trim the budget. The Boston Globe reported that cutting the late-night service, in which some train and bus lines ran as late at 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings, would save roughly $9 million next year, all part of an effort that has cut the MBTA’s “deficit by 43 percent, potentially allowing them to pump $100 million into much-needed weatherization projects and repairs to aging signal systems.”
Most of the bars and nightclubs around the Boston area close at 2 a.m. The T usually shuts down by 1 a.m. each night/morning.
At today’s session, a vote of 4-0 was reached, apparently with very little discussion, by members of the T’s fiscal control board. Nicole Dungca of the Globe broke the news a few minutes ago on Twitter.
No discussion. 4-0 vote to eliminate late night service by March 18.
— Nicole Dungca (@ndungca) February 29, 2016
MBTA BOARD VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO TERMINATE LATE NGIHT SERVICE March 18, 2016 #MApoli #Bospoli
— Mike Deehan (@deehan) February 29, 2016
BREAKING: #MBTA control board votes to terminate late-night subway/bus service on Fridays and Saturdays as of March 18. No discussion.
— Peter J. Howe (@PeterHoweNECN) February 29, 2016