The T may run later hours on the weekends after the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority received a proposal on Tuesday asking to expand service hours to 2 a.m., according to a State House press release.
Officials and business leaders announced a plan that would expand T hours on Friday and Saturday nights.
The last Green Line T on the Boston College line leaves from Government Center at 12:52 a.m. on weekdays. On Saturday, the last train on the same line departs from Government Center at 12:50 a.m.
State Rep. Sean Garballey and Dave Andelman, president of the Restaurant and Business Alliance, created the proposal.
“Helping businesses maximize their busiest times helps everyone in this economy, and by changing some of the metrics and thinking creatively, we believe we can make this a reality,” Garballey, who lives in Arlington, said in the press release.
Andelman said that increasing service hours would generate more revenue for local businesses.
“If 50,000 consumers can stay out just one hour longer, and they spend an average of $20, the increased revenue from sales taxes, meals taxes and payroll taxes will make everyone a winner,” Andelman, who lives in downtown Boston, said in the press release.
He said that giving waiters, waitresses, bartenders and kitchen staff a way to get home “makes Boston a safer place.”
With the final trolleys leaving their respective stations at 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, each train would begin to run on a 20-minute cycle, instead of 12-minute, at 10 p.m. “to lower the costs for the additional operation,” according to the press release.
Trains would also wait in stations longer in order to have as many passengers as possible board.
But beginning at 11 p.m. on later nights, fares would rise to “compensate for running the system with less customers longer, a much cheaper option than a cab ride,” according to the release.
A trial period of this system would potentially occur in April 2012, so that officials could determine new fare prices. This fare increases would not effect those who hold Monthly LinkPasses.
Since there is a larger student population, an upcoming casino and build-outs such as the Seaport District “working now to expand the T services into the night will ensure a smoother transition in the future,” according to the release.
The MBTA would additionally place advertisements on CharlieCards and tickets to increase profits.
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Please please please it’s been a long time coming
YES PLEASE!!!!
“But beginning at 11 p.m. on later nights, fares would rise to ‘compensate for running the system with less customers longer, a much cheaper option than a cab ride,’ according to the release.”
Of course, raise the fares earlier instead of during the extended service period! Ridiculous.