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Did the MBTA’s late-night experiment really work?
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WHEN IT BEGAN last March, late-night MBTA service was supposed to shuttle The City That Sometimes Sleeps into a new cultural era and pump up the economy in the process. “World-class cities offer late-night public transit to support the workforce and a vibrant night life,” then Governor Deval Patrick said when announcing the one-year trial of extended weekend service on every subway line and key bus route. “And Boston is a world-class city.”
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Compared with other cities, Boston turns in pretty early. The busiest L trains in Chicago run all night. Philadelphia is dabbling with 24-hour weekend service on its SEPTA trains, replacing round-the-clock bus service and eating the cost increase in the name of citizen convenience.
London is rolling out all-night service on its Tube trains this fall and pitching the increased service as a huge economic driver — adding millions to the economy and thousands of jobs. “London is a bustling 24-hour global city, and by this time next year we’ll have a 24-hour Tube service to match,” London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, said in September. “The evolution of the Night Tube will without doubt make London an even better place to live, work, visit, and invest.”
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Article here. (Thanks to Gladys We.)
