With supporters of 24-hour Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority service planning to rally at City Hall Plaza on Tuesday, the MBTA will again be forced to address the issue of extending the hours of its service. Although the MBTA considered introducing a program in 1999 to provide overnight bus service, it put other priorities before this proposal. College students, legislators, labor leaders and anti-drunk driving advocates will rally to push this issue to the forefront of the MBTA’s improvement agenda.
The MBTA should re-evaluate this issue because proponents of the proposal represent the people who would use the service and promote it to others. Fears that not enough people would ride during extended hours have prevented the MBTA from seriously addressing this issue in the past. The rally will demonstrate that many people do and would use the service. College students, in particular, would benefit from extended service because many students rely solely on the T for travel to many destinations in and around Boston. The service would allow for an easier and more convenient travel from various nightspots in the city.
The MBTA also claims that construction costs and efforts required for this project would make 24-hour service impossible. However, the additional fare from late-night T riders would eventually help to cover construction expenses.
Furthermore, while it may not be realistic to think that the country’s oldest public transit system could be transformed overnight, the MBTA should work to improve its service in smaller increments. If the service were extended to 2:30 a.m. on weekends, it would accommodate those people returning home from bars and nightclubs.
By extending the hours of its service, the MBTA could take a strong stance against drunk driving and join other advocates in preventing it. When the Boston nightlife ends at 2 a.m., many people are forced to catch a cab or drive home intoxicated. Although the MBTA cannot be blamed for drunk driving incidents, extending the hours of its service could help in reducing its occurrence by offering a reasonable alternative. If the MBTA is committed to providing T riders with a quality transportation service, its officials should address this issue of extended service because it would show that it truly cares about the concerns of their customers.
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