MBTA Begins New 'Night Owl' Late Night Bus Hours on Weekends

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began a one-year pilot program this weekend that will offer late-night bus service on Friday and Saturday evenings. The “Night Owl” program creates 10 new bus routes that stop at the same stations that the subway system does during regular hours. Buses will depart from downtown Boston about every half hour beginning at 1 a.m. and ending at 2:30 a.m. Other feeder bus routes along the main transit corridors will have their hours similarly extended.

Fares will be comparable to the cost of riding the T and free transfers between buses can be requested upon boarding. Transfers are only valid between Night Owl buses at Government Center or Kenmore Square. The Night Owl buses will accept coins and T tokens, although drivers may accept dollar bills at their discretion and change will not be provided.

MBTA officials said that buses were chosen for the pilot program to avoid the much larger costs of running the T for even a single additional hour.

The MBTA’s initiative was spurred by a coalition of elected officials from outlying areas of Boston, including Cambridge Democratic Representative Alice K. Wolf, advocates of working families and lobbyists from the hospitality and tourism industries. Over four years in the making, the program costs $2.8 million to operate during this trial period.

A commonly repeated complaint among students is that the T closes too early, forcing people who go into the city during weekends to either cut their fun short to catch the last subway train or to cram into an expensive taxi.

When questioned about the new service, Carrie R. Bierman ’04 said she hadn’t been aware of the service and that she would consider going into Boston more. On the other end of the spectrum, Emily F. Oster ’02 said she would probably not use the late-night bus routes.

Supporters of the trial program hope that the buses will eliminate the need to walk long distances at night alone, and the late-night routes are also a boon to people who are dependent on public transit because they work untraditional hours and cannot afford their own cars.

Rep. Wolf said that access to public transportation at all hours was a “necessity, not a frill.”

Ridership on the Night Owl buses will be monitored during the pilot program and the Night Owl program is seen as the litmus test on whether late-night public transportation will be economically viable in Boston. Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Kevin J. Sullivan said that the objective of the pilot program was “not looking for ways to pull the plug,” but rather to gauge demand.