Boston City Council to MBTA: Keep that late-night service running

The City Council today unanimously approved a formal request to the MBTA to make its Friday and Saturday late-night service permanent.

Councilors Josh Zakim (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Mission Hill) and Michelle Wu (at large), who proposed the motion, acknowledged that keeping the service running will require what Zakim called "very creative and thoughtful" ways to pay for it, including possibly a surcharge for the service.

The two said running trains and some bus routes into the wee hours on the weekends would be good for the local economy simply by attracting the sort of hard-charging, club-going young professionals who might otherwise decamp for other cities - but that it also helps people who work at bars and restaurants, as well as other people who don't work traditional 9-5 shifts, such as doctors and nurses.

Councilor Matt O'Malley (Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury) popped up with an idea: Charge fees to local chefs to let them create pop-up food stands during the later hours - when the T's normal complement of donut shops and pretzel stands are closed anyway. He predicted there'd be an "enormous appetite" for the unusual offerings they could dish up to the late-night crowd.