Those two sentences...--><---
A minority % of night-shift workers in the straight heart of a major metropolitan downtown area is still a hell of a lot of workers who need to get around. Downtown never gets deserted, even after the entertainment establishments close. And it's not easier to drive in and park after dark because that's when they do the street sweeping in every commercial area (while all but the most expensive garages are closed), and that's when all the lane and ramp closures happen on 93.
This is a real hardship for thousands of people and an economic hindrance to the city. No, it's not easy to fund something like this. But that's why there needs to be a lot more brainstorming dialogue with stakeholders on how to get something viable working. That can't happen as long as there's a significant faction (*cough*Hizzoner*cough*) writing this off as the Drunk Tank Bus for rowdy college kids. That Puritanical attitude does such a pointless disservice. How does he think the considerable overnight shift on the city payroll has to get to work? Or would they just go out clubbing too if they didn't need to carpool?
Let's do some estimating -- according to the US 2010 census
(Boston Commuting: ACS 2010)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0As-46yTnYtLbdFJGb2hackVDc2NfcWRycmFjQnZJSlE&hl=en_US
Of the Workers 16 years and over 309,620 people working in Boston (city limits) M-F:
46% drove in a single passenger vehicle or car/van pooled
16 % walked,
1+% took a bike ride
4% worked at home
33% took the T
1% or so took taxis or boats, etc.
While we don't really know what percentage of commuters are working at various hours -- we do have a table of when they left home for work (typically taking 28 minutes in the commute)
Let's assume that the 9AM-5PM typical business hours group all leave for work after 6 AM
then we can use the table to estimate other groups of workers:
TIME LEAVING HOME
12:00 a.m. to 4:59 a.m. 1.9%
5:00 a.m. to 5:29 a.m. 3.0%
5:30 a.m. to 5:59 a.m. 3.1%
6:00 a.m. to 6:29 a.m. 5.1%
6:30 a.m. to 6:59 a.m. 7.6%
7:00 a.m. to 7:29 a.m. 11.7%
7:30 a.m. to 7:59 a.m. 12.3%
8:00 a.m. to 8:29 a.m. 16.7%
8:30 a.m. to 8:59 a.m. 8.8%
9:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. 29.9%
Unfortunately it's not possible to parce the 30% leaving for work from 9:00AM to 11:59 PM into: the late remnants of the 9-5 morning crowd; the later afternoon / evening working crowd; and the real night shift
In addition there is no data at all available in this survey for the 24x7 crowd working on weekends
However -- it looks as though at most 8% (12:00 AM to 5:59 AM departures for work) are leaving for work after/before the T's operating hours -- it could be as small as 2% (12 AM to 4:49 Am) depending on the precise commute period versus the hours of the T's various components
Summary -- It looks as though the T's hours fit the needs of the vast majority of the people working within the city limits of Boston
