The MBTA’s Late-Night Bus Pilot Will Start in September
Spencer Buell | Boston Magazine
“Late-night buses on the MBTA are a go.
The T’s oversight board voted on Monday to approve a $1.2 million pilot of a system of buses that will shuttle passengers after the rest of the system has shut down, which is intended primarily to give people who work late in the city an affordable way to get home. It will launch in September and add late-night stops to an area that stretches from Dorchester and Mattapan up into East Boston, Revere, Chelsea, and Malden.
The T had sought an outside private partner to operate the additional routes, but went back to the drawing board after it didn’t receive even one bid. The T will now need to hire six additional bus drivers. It will spend $800,000 on operations, $250,000 on paratransit service, $100,000 for T police and $50,000 for marketing.”
The nonprofit advocacy group TransitMatters, which pitched the concept of a “NightBus” in 2016 and has rallied support for the idea, cheered the news on Monday.
