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If the MBTA won't provide late-night bus service, maybe Boston can, councilors say
By adamg on Wed, 01/24/2024 - 3:31pm
The Boston City Council agreed today to study the idea of getting into the bus business, with small shuttle-type buses, to serve routes - and hours - that the T doesn't.
City Councilors Sharon Durkan (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Mission Hill) , Henry Santana (at large) and Ben Weber (Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury) want to look at "the creation of a municipal bus service to provide last-mile service and late night shuttle service for third-shift workers," according to the hearing request they filed.
Durkan said the system could take the shape of the city buying a series of small, van-like buses to run relatively short routes under the direction of "community advocates" who would decide formal routes and times.
Durkan pointed to the Mission Hill Link, which currently runs a shuttle to get residents from the top of the hill and BHA residences to the Ruggles and Roxbury Crossing T stops, as an example, but said she would want to see other routes running late into the night to help residents who start or get off work after the T has shut down for the night.
"Anyone should be able to create and run a last-mile bus on their own initiative," she said.
City Councilor Gabriela Coletta (North End, East Boston, Charlestown) said East Boston in particular, could benefit from overnight bus routes. She recalled her pre-Uber days of going to college and getting out of work at a North End restaurant at 2 a.m. and having a devil of a time getting back home to East Boston, because taxi drivers often refused to cross the harbor.
City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson (Roxbury) praised the proposal and said it would tie in well with something she has been studying - buses that would connect business and cultural districts across the city, buses that could include party buses and "other types of entertainment" as they wheeled their way from "Mattapan Square to Uphams Corner art district to the Nubian Square art district and so forth - or to Beacon Hill."
And she foresaw a more serious role for such buses, one of "reconciliation," in journeys on which "our White brothers and sisters and Black brothers and sisters can come together in sort of healing spaces, to talk about moving forward with equity in Boston."
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Comments
I know just where to look for
I know just where to look for drivers
Umm..
Can we get someone to check if there is a gas leak in the City Council's chamber, or maybe something go into the water?
I've heard of a can of soda healing the racial divide, but never a bus full of folks dead tired from working all night and drunks.
Nothing to see here yall
That's just Tania Fernandes Anderson. A garbage person doing garbage things. Remember folks, her husband murdered an innocent man.
Her husband's behavior has no impact on her eligibility to serve
But her own actions do -- Anderson hired her sister and son as employees of her council office, then snuck them in raises right afterwards in violation of ethics laws, and once she was caught and fined gave a farcical apology -- summed up by the statement in the article, "if it wasn’t unethical I would do it again."
I can't find a citation in a quick search, but my understanding from memory when this first went public is that both positions she hired relatives for required council approval, which is pretty much a rubber stamp routine, and didn't raise flags because there wasn't a shared last name. Hired at one salary on approval that didn't raise flags, then immediately after approval gave out bonuses and raises. Tania Fernandes Anderson is unfit to sit behind the desk in the parking clerk office, let alone in the council chamber.
eNobody's immune to putting one's own people on patronage.
It wouldn't be surprising if she voted in people from her own family (i. e. her own sister and son) to work under her. Nobody, whoever they may be, is immune to that.
Wait?
So you're saying that nobody is immune to ethics?
Act your age
For god's sake, stop being such a ridiculous impertinent child. It's embarrassing to watch.
Durkan said the system could
Letting neighborhood busybodies pick their own bus routes. What could possibly go wrong?
Meh
Of all the questionable things about this program, letting people who would be most likely to ride the shuttles be the people to determine the routes isn't one of them.
There was a local startup a few years ago that had a similar program like this where they ran small shuttles on predetermined routes but with a certain amount of Uber-like scheduling. The project failed. Perhaps the city wants speak with some of the people behind that project to find out what didn't work. (Might have just been bad timing with the Pandemic.)
IIRC that service failed
IIRC that service failed because it was aimed at downtown commuters and ran mostly during the day, on routes that were already served by the MBTA. It was a solution without a problem. The city may also be able to accept lower (or negative) profit margins than a private business.
I believe the pitch for that was
"Are you someone who would like to use the T but doesn't want to have to associate with the poors? Why not pay us 3x as much money instead?"
Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs)
For last mile services would be viable in Boston and much of the rest of the state.
I can't find the cite but IIRC funding can be an offset for the MBTA assessment.
An RTA you say?
Something like the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority?
Perhaps the City of Boston could work with the MBTA on this.
Or
The CoB could engage with a viable vendor and create a workable program.
The Mass Secretary of Transportation, Monica Tibbits-Nutt, ran a business focused transit company that is a good example.
Check it out. Not all transit sucks.
So
Don't use an RTA?
Party Buses?
Free party buses equipped with stripper poles, booze and marijuana what could possibly go wrong. I for one can hardly wait.
Bus vs Medical system
Putting a few mini busses in neighborhoods (Costs likely starting in the tens of thousands) seems much more achievable than figuring out hospitals (millions and millions) or pharmacies.
If they can find funding, then I can actually see small neighborhood shuttles working and this being something the city council could achieve.
This is a good idea because
This is a good idea because the city has already proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that transportation logistics is their strong suit. My kid has only been late to school about half the days this year.
The city also apparently has a deep well of licensed drivers who can pass a background check that they only have to pay $25/hr, and will only work part time.
How about BPS get out of the
How about BPS get out of the bus business before the city gets into it?
Or They Could Use BPS buses
So many aren't full during the day...
And perhaps some competition for the MBTA would good to get them to improve their performance :)
Maybe this is the start of a functional city council:)
The most ideal thing would be if the MBTA were open 24/7
In many US cities, including New York, the subway system is open 24 hours a day. It would be good if the MBTA were like that, too.
I'll take 365 days a year
I used to be annoyed it didn't run overnight. Now I'm just happy if service is even being offered during the day.
And by "many US cities"
You mean New York, 2 lines in Chicago, and the train in Philly that goes to New Jersey. Oh, and PATH, which I guess falls under New York.
.
.