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The new late-night T schedules are out

Download a copy and look at the times for last trains on Fridays and Saturdays (scroll down a page).

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Poor Design Center :(

Also, to make this really work, they need standard signs at EVERY STATION.

S-T
Last Inbound = xxx
Last Outbound = xxx
F-S
Last Inbound =xxx
Last Outbound =xx

Kenmore square has had a "last train 12:35am" sign for years....80% useless because the last OUTBOUND trains all went by much later, as late as 1:10am.

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AFAIK, there's approximately zero residences or clubs which would be any better served by SL2 than by SL1. There may be two restaurants I don't know about, but I don't see much use.

Also, at least the sign advertises the last train earlier than it actually is. It would suck if it said the train was 20 minutes later than it actually is, and then someone is left waiting and waiting for a train that's not coming.

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It does seem like a huge waste to run the SL2 late night. SL1 to serve Logan and the seaport should be sufficient.

I agree it would be nice to know when the last trains leave their downtown core stops - I'd rather know the last train out of Downtown Crossing than the last one out of Braintree... But I'm guessing if the bars let out at two you're going to have enough time to stumble to the nearest stop and be alright.

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Also note that while the last outbound SL1 leaves South Station at 2:15, there's an additional trip on the unnumbered South Station-Silver Line Way route that leaves at 2:30.

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The magic downtown transfer station departure time appears to be 2:28.

Maybe once Google Maps' transit directions has the updated schedules, I'll reverse-engineer every station's last train times and post them somewhere.

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"Late night service on ALL subway routes and the top 15 bus lines!!!"

They forgot to add a tiny asterisk for "lol Sl2 youre not a real subway route".

Advertised time: Thats never a problem, as all the last trains wait for one another. No last train can ever be early.

Kenmore had a sign for 12:35 because that was the last inbound train. Apparently, the only direction that matters.

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Kenmore 1235 post is up for the last inbound train.

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To celebrate the inauguration of this new service, I'm anxious to find a new place to dance on Friday nights. Are there any suggestions for someplace within walking distance of the Blue Line?

I've been wanting to try out Guilt Fridays on Warrenton Street, but haven't heard too much about it. Has anyone been there and can say what it's like? I want someplace that plays House music (preferably slanted towards Soulful House), with a heavy danceable beat; from the original R&B Disco of the 1970's through and including the Club and House remixed music that it has evolved into today. No drama is also essential; that means no dress codes, fussy attitudes, or other silly rules!

Historically, Gay clubs always had the best DJs, but there are plenty of exceptions and clubs where sexual orientation is irrelevant. How much does that really matter nowadays, especially for an old guy who dances with anyone and/or everyone, but is often happiest dancing with no one but himself?

It's important that the DJ not be someone who plays whatever music he wants out of a computer, but someone who has the ability to feel the energy of a crowd on the dancefloor, with the skills and experience to craft the crowd's energy into a synergy with the music; a feedback loop that builds and flows as each perfectly selected song is precisely synchronized with the one before. When that happens, the sum becomes many times greater than the parts. There's a radiant field of energy on the floor that I feel I'm basking in; that's where I want to go to dance!

This happens on Saturday nights, at Paradise (on Mass Ave. at MIT in Cambridge). For more than a dozen years, the same DJ, Jonny C, has been there every Saturday night, but only on Saturdays. Someone else plays records on Fridays, but it's rather pointless; there's none of that special energy that only happens when a room full of people are in synchrony with the music, while simultaneously having a truly wonderful time.

Where can I find that on a Friday night in Boston?

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Middlesex Lounge or Phoenix in Central might be good bets. Good Life Bar downtown can also be pretty awesome - Very small but the DJs seems to know their crowds. All are not gay, but gay friendly. Guilt on Friday is hit or miss and isn't really hopping until after 12:30. House of Blues is a bigger club feel on Saturdays some DJs are good others are just average. Personally Underbar on Sunday (doesn't help with the new T schedule) is my favorite as it has a more underground, close feel. DJ Richie is great he also does Estate some Thursdays. There are sometimes events at Oberon in Cambridge that are very dancy, search facebook for "Videodrome Discothèque". They are actually doing a BeeGees night at the paradise in Allston on the first night of late night service.

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Thank you! I really appreciate all that information! I wouldn't expect any place to get hopping before midnight, so I'm leaning towards trying Guilt on the first Friday of extended service.

I know of "The Paradise" in Allston (completely different than my Saturday night Paradise in Cambridge at MIT) but using the Ⓣ to get home from Allston would mean relying on the Green Line to get back to Park Street Station, and then running outside from there over to State Street Station by no later than 2:30, in order to catch the last Blue Line train to Wonderland.

Even if "relying on the Green Line" wasn't meant as a joke, the system still doesn't run late enough to make that destination practical for me. I need someplace that's no more than a fifteen minute walk (or bike ride) to either Bowdoin, State, or Aquarium stations.

Personally, I've never been much of a fan of the BeeGees, at least not when they're singing; I find their voices to be whining and rather irritating. They wrote some great music though, pieces of which are still being sampled and remixed with new music today. I loved Carol Douglas' rendition of "Night Fever" much better than the BeeGees' version:

When this record came out, I was a Disco DJ in Ft. Lauderdale, but that's a whole 'nother story.

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Why not the Caravan Club ,the Blue Line is almost in the parking lot there.

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When this album came out, I was working as a Disco DJ while attending college. The first few "Ritchie Family" albums are great examples of what made Disco music so special in the early days, before its reputation was sullied. Other people tried to cash in on the genre; resulting in unfortunate if not disastrous attempts to "make things disco", but ignoring the true spirit of what Disco was really about.

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Are these online yet?

I'm also curious what happens to the last buses on non-key routes. Right now they wait for the last train, and a notation on the schedule indicates this. But now the last train will be 1.5-2 hours later.

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Yes, theyre on the website. Click the bus tab and theres a notice about the new schedules with links.

And your question is answered on the schedule: Now they will leave at their scheduled time, not wait (except Sunday-Thursday when they will operate as normal).

However, they late night bus routes WILL wait for the last train.

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I think it would be convenient if non-key routes with "wait for last train" runs would leave as scheduled, and then on Fri/Sat nights had an additional bus which waited for the end of service. This would be very helpful for places such as Lynn and Somerville, which do not have any key routes.

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Other big transit systems have policies like "All areas with population density over X people/square mile will be within a 10-minute walk of a 24-hour bus route."

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That would probably be a scheduling/labor nightmare. You cant have drivers sitting around for 2 hours to do one run. At that point it would be cheaper for the MBTA to pay for taxis.

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They wouldn't be waiting 2 hours? It would be a scheduled run 2 hours later than the current one.

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You need to get a driver to run that trip, so what does he or she do in the meantime? Can you really ask an employee to commute to the bus yard for the purpose of operating just a single trip?

I think they have to pay the driver for at least four hours of work. Otherwise it's really not fair to them. And weird shifts like that (middle of the night, split shift, or other) may add cost as well.

The only thing I can think of is that you might make that "last connecting subway trip" be the beginning of a late-night/early-morning shift, and then make that part of a more comprehensive late-night/early-morning bus network which serves the 3 a.m. - 6 a.m. crowd; mostly people getting to or from their jobs at airports, hospitals, EMS, bars, restaurants, etc. Something to talk about for the future, as an expansion of the already existing 4 a.m. trips, but not part of this current proposal for late night T service on Friday, Saturday nights.

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Maybe there are buses that currently deadhead back to the garage at that time, and they could run some of those trips out of the West Lynn Garage and let passengers ride the deadheads.

Some transit agencies do this. It doesn't cost them much to let people ride buses that would otherwise be empty.

I've watched the parade of out-of-service buses heading down Broadway in Somerville towards the Charlestown garage at about 1:30 AM, and wondered why passengers can't get some benefit from them.

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It's really a shame that trains will arrive at Wonderland as late as 3:00 am, but there'll be absolutely no busses to take passengers any further. The extended Blue Line corridor to Lynn doesn't even have reasonable bustitution service, yet a lot of working people desperately need to get from Wonderland to Lynn. It's sad to see the grandiose new bus quays at Wonderland so underutilized, when there is an important need for feeder service beyond that point being ignored, especially at night and on weekends.
IMAGE(http://elmercatdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_3630.jpg)

IMAGE(http://elmercatdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_5711.jpg)

They could simply have a few extra busses parked in the nice covered busway at the station; send the drivers out on the Blue Line, thus insuring that the last bus would never leave before the last train arrived. A bus or two to Lynn Central Square, and/or even just a single bus that went no further than the West Lynn garage would make using the late-night Ⓣ viable for many more people than just running the Blue Line. Similar "last train" busses should be implemented at every rapid transit terminus station. It's something they could easily do, and it would go a long way towards making the overall late-night service a success.

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$5 will get you from Wonderland to Lynn at 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, and 3:30.

Maybe I can carry 10 people per run.

$50 per run. $250 per night. $500 per week. About $25,000 per year for 2 hours of work twice a week.

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I've fantasized about doing something like that.

Anyone know what the regulatory hurdles are for an intercity intrastate scheduled van service in Massachusetts?

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Since East-and-West holds up stuff until wicked late, you could maybe have a few very early pullouts fill those gaps.

Example:

- Pullout from Charlestown at 2:45A (note, not 2:45x)
- Hold for final Orange Line connection at Sullivan (c. 3:00A) and do a round trip on the 91.
- Upon returning to Sullivan (c. 3:30A), have a thirty or forty minute break built into the run.
- Leave Sullivan at about 4:10A and deadhead to Clarendon Hill.
- Do the 4:33A inbound Route 194 trip.
- Spend the rest of the morning on the 89's, 111s, or something.
- Pullback to Charlestown around 10:30A.

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It seems that they forgot to mention in the press release that all existing "w" notes have been abolished Fridays and Saturdays. So now that last bus at 1:05 really will leave at 1:05 versus 1:30, etc. The key routes, as noted above, shall have their last trips held for train connections.

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This means that if your train breaks down and you miss the bus connection that is no longer going to wait, you are screwed and will have to take a cab, you really have to hope the trains run well at these times. I think the idea earlier in this thread of having an extra round trip on certain routes at the very end is also a good idea.

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Some people benefit, others don't. If all you're riding is that last bus, it means you won't have to sit around for 45+ minutes until the train shows up. But if you're making a train -> bus connection, you'll have to leave time for slow trains, and have a backup plan. And it's even worse if you're taking multiple trains to a bus.

Of course, none of this would be an issue if there were no delays.

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Yet, if I can go to The Littlest Bar until closing time, a cab from Forest Hills is less expensive than trying to get one in town.

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That's the bright side of it, you don't have to pay as much for a cab fare. Likewise people in Malden would only have to take a cab from Malden Station vs. from Boston to get home at those hours now.

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