Late-night MBTA service could be gone within weeks

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/02/14/schedules-suggest-end-near-for-late-night-mbta-service/46ZEOTGXSB096xJE6kX1xK/story.html



Late-night MBTA service could be gone within weeks
By Nicole Dungca
February 15, 2016

Though Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials haven’t yet voted on a proposal to eliminate late-night bus and subway service, the agency has given drivers schedules for the spring that do just that.

When subway drivers recently began choosing their shifts, they noticed a big omission on the schedules: Beginning March 19, drivers no longer had to pick up shifts past 12:30 a.m., said a union official briefed on the schedules.

That caught some drivers and public transit activists off guard, particularly because the MBTA has not made any formal announcement about the end of late-night service. Though members of its fiscal control board have appeared ready to ax the service, the board will not vote until Feb. 29.

Caroline Casey, a community organizer for the T Riders Union, said she believes MBTA officials held public meetings about whether to cut the service with their minds already made up. “This isn’t about logistics, this isn’t about planning ahead,” she said. “This is about the fact that this public process is a sham.”