Night Owl service ending as of 6/25

According to signs posted in Davis Square station, there will be no Night Owl bus service starting on Saturday night, June 25.

(seems odd to end this service in the middle of the weekend, instead of before or after, but that's what the sign says)

Ron Newman wrote:According to signs posted in Davis Square station, there will be no Night Owl bus service starting on Saturday night, June 25.

(seems odd to end this service in the middle of the weekend, instead of before or after, but that's what the sign says)

Might not be the 25th but actually the 26th with it tacked onto the 25th's service day.

And it's the last weekend of the month so it makes sense to do it then.

My interpretation of the sign is that there will be service on Friday night (Saturday morning) but not on Saturday night (Sunday morning) that weekend. And then no more service at all. If this is not what the T means to say, they need to put up a better sign.

It is sad, but had to be done. May the Night Owl RIP.

Let us hope that there won't be too many angry people over it.

The last night is Friday night, 6/24. The new (work) pick starts on Saturday and those runs have been eliminated.

The new (work) pick starts on Saturday and those runs have been eliminated.

What does "the new work pick" mean? Just curious

Robert Paniagua wrote:The new (work) pick starts on Saturday and those runs have been eliminated.

What does "the new work pick" mean? Just curious

Drivers/train crews bid for their assignments, based on seniority. Same time as new schedules come out (for obvious reasons).

All right, thanks, Octr.

Did they get rite of it because of low ridership?

Low ridership, and they are trying to close a multi-million dollar deficit.

The service is a huge money loser thanks to a longtime provision in the union contract that pays drivers double time if they are on the road after 2:00. This resulted in many drivers with high seniority bidding these runs. In New York City, by comparison, drivers who are on the road between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. are paid a shift differential.

JD

Sad to see it go, it was very helpful for many people, including myself. I thought the city might have stepped in - it's kinda of a public safety issue, I would assume... then again there are still taxi's...
Nonetheless, hopefully Boston will get out of the 18th century and run the trains AT LEAST until 2:30 or so...

RailBus63 wrote:The service is a huge money loser thanks to a longtime provision in the union contract that pays drivers double time if they are on the road after 2:00. This resulted in many drivers with high seniority bidding these runs. In New York City, by comparison, drivers who are on the road between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. are paid a shift differential.

JD

Wow the unions must be upset it's going.

AmtrakFan wrote:

RailBus63 wrote:The service is a huge money loser thanks to a longtime provision in the union contract that pays drivers double time if they are on the road after 2:00. This resulted in many drivers with high seniority bidding these runs. In New York City, by comparison, drivers who are on the road between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. are paid a shift differential.

JD

Wow the unions must be upset it's going.

They probably are, but it's their own fault that it's going.

Was reading an old MTA schedule from the 40's recently and it seemed night owl service was routine back then. At the very least, they should run until the bars close. Indeed, greedy unions and a large deficit are issues but in the end we all lose and comparing Boston to other major cities IS relevent in this case. Of course NYC "never closes" and Chicago's bars close at 4am but it dosn't seem to be asking for much to keep service going until the bars close at 2am on weekends. One more drunk driver who is too cheap or can't afford a cab is one too many.