The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Night Owl service was spared from extinction yesterday morning, as Advisory Board members voted to fund the late-night shuttles following a rush of outcry from the Boston community.
Night Owl, which provides Friday and Saturday night bus service throughout the Boston area after regular ‘T’ and bus routes close, was one of two services the MBTA said it could not fund in the 2003 fiscal year.
The MBTA requested a $1.8 million supplemental budget to fund the Night Owl buses, as well as a commuter boat service. The Night Owl had previously been funded by a budget surplus, but this surplus has diminished by 50 percent over the last year, according to an MBTA official at yesterday’s meeting.
BU’s Student Union issued a statement praising the service.
‘The Night Owl service provides a safe and affordable mode of transportation for BU students working and socializing throughout the city on Friday and Saturday nights,’ the statement said.
Several Boston residents and workers also spoke yesterday, highlighting the Night Owl’s role as a convenient and safe mode of late-night transportation.
‘This service is honestly and truly about saving lives,’ Ross told the Advisory Board. ‘It is a vital provider of public safety.’
The Night Owl, Ross said, keeps drunk drivers off the roads at night by offering them an alternative way to get home. It also provides a valuable service for workers on late-night shifts who cannot afford to park or take a cab home, he said.
Boston University College of Arts and Science senior and College Democrats president Ellen Weis emphasized the Night Owl’s role in crime prevention.
‘I’m asking you to keep this program for college students,’ she said, ‘for women, or anyone who may be a victim of crime.’
Representatives of the hospitality and restaurant industry in Boston also supported the Night Owl.
Bruce Potter, a member of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said he understood the city’s budget problems but said the service would indirectly improve the budget.
‘The only way to get out of the budget crisis is to increase tax revenues,’ he said. ‘And the only way to do that is to support businesses.’
The motion was submitted to a voice vote and passed with only a few dissenting votes.
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