MBTA takes another shot at late-night routes for subway, buses
Photo | Courtesy of State House News Service
An MBTA red line train
Last call on the MBTA is about to get a little later.
Nine years after pulling the plug on a prior weekend late-night service program, the MBTA this month will begin running all subways and several popular bus routes about an hour longer into the night. It's part of a new fall schedule that also boosts daytime trip frequency across most of the system.
Agency leaders -- many of whom were not involved in the ill-fated pilot nearly a decade ago -- said Tuesday they want to provide a "public service" for the commuters who need to take trips after about 1 a.m., including people enjoying a night out and those working overnight shifts, even if the demand is comparably smaller.
MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said ridership will not be the chief metric by which his team grades the performance of the newly extended hours.
"We're doing this to ensure that the people that need to use the system can use the system. We're a public transit agency. We do it to provide a public service," he said. "There's a lot of people that need to rely on the service that haven't been able to use it. That's how we're measuring success, not whether it's 10 million people using it or 50 people using it."
This time around, the T will extend late-night hours as part of its latest seasonal schedule adjustment, not as a time-limited pilot. Eng said he expects the changes to cost about $2 million per year, a figure officials say they can cover through the agency's annual operating budget.
Under the fall schedule that begins Aug. 24, service will stretch an hour longer on Friday and Saturday nights on every subway line, three Silver Line routes and five other bus routes.
Five other bus routes will run about an hour later every night, not just on weekends: the Route 23 from Ashmont to Ruggles, the Route 28 from Mattapan to Ruggles, the Route 57 from Watertown to Kenmore, the Route 111 from Woodlawn to Haymarket, and the Route 116 from Wonderland to Maverick.
The final trip of the night varies by mode, but today typically launches between midnight and 1 a.m. The new schedule could allow some travelers to get home as the clock approaches 2 a.m. without needing to call for a costly taxi or app-based ride.
"As we move to the fall, whether you're working a late shift, whether you're out at a bar or restaurant, whether you're enjoying games or concerts -- and hopefully we'll have some teams even be playing into October here -- the idea is that you're going to get a public transit system that you deserve and that's an option for you," said Gov. Maura Healey.
MBTA Board of Directors Chair Thomas McGee pitched the change as a way to support the region's economic development.
"It's not a loss leader. It really is creating the kind of service that will allow people to live their lives. The quality of life will improve, but more importantly, it helps grow our economy," said McGee, a former senator who previously co-chaired the Legislature's Transportation Committee.
Workers with late shifts and those wanting to enjoy Boston's nightlife have at times pushed for the MBTA to remain open later, pointing to other cities with service available longer into the night. Boston has, at times, held a reputation as a city that shuts down comparably early.
In 2014, the T began running a pilot program extending weekend service on subways and 15 bus routes until roughly 2:30 a.m. At the time, officials forecast it would cost $15 million to $20 million annually.
After extending the pilot for an extra year, the agency scrapped the offering in 2016. Officials in former Gov. Charlie Baker's administration said the per-passenger subsidy was much higher for late-night service than for trips during standard hours.
"It has very, very low ridership and it's hugely expensive to operate," Baker said in February 2016.
Asked what's changed in the years since then, Eng said his team "knew we could handle it."
"We knew that our workforce is ready to handle that, and our infrastructure is capable," he said.
Eng recalled his time as president of the Long Island Rail Road during the COVID-19 pandemic, before he joined the MBTA in 2023.
"I was running 24/7 [service] at Long Island Raid Road. I was only carrying 3% of the ridership, but they were essential workers. They needed to use it," he said.
The T plans to make service after 9 p.m. free for five Fridays and Saturdays starting Sept. 5 in an attempt to drum up momentum for the late-night option.
The new fall schedule also boosts daytime trip frequency on the Red Line, Orange Line and Blue Line. Eight bus routes are in line for service increases of 10% to 20%.
While the T still faces maintenance and other challenges, Healey and her deputies have been trumpeting improvements under Eng after a sustained period of service disruptions and deferred maintenance.
Beacon Hill has funneled hundreds of millions of additional dollars to the agency, much of it through the voter-approved surtax on wealthy households to fund education and transportation investments.
One reporter on Tuesday began a question to Healey by remarking that the T was "kind of a stumbling block" for the Baker administration.
"To term it a stumbling block is a gross understatement," Healey replied. "Trains were literally on fire when we took over, and we've had to redo any number of things that were done under the prior administration."
Brian Shortsleeve, a former MBTA general manager under Baker who is now running for governor as a Republican, has been criticizing Healey on the campaign trail for the increased spending on the T. He recently swiped at the governor's team after riders became trapped on a disabled Blue Line train.
"The last time the T was this financially broken, Governor Baker called me in. We brought a Marine's discipline and a businessperson’s mindset," Shortsleeve said in a statement last month. "We cut waste, reined in overtime, reformed inefficient operations, brought the Green Line Extension project back from the dead, and balanced the budget for the first time in a decade."
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