By Sam Lauf

News Correspondent

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) helps 1.2 million riders to their destinations every weekday according to their website, but in the wee hours of the weekend, those who depend on the T are usually on their own.
“Until we build up a more competitive city when it comes to public transit, [Boston’s lack of late-night public transit] will be a deficiency for our city,” said City Council President Mike Ross, who represents Mission Hill and the Fenway. Ross has been  in favor of late-night public transportation since he championed the Night Owl bus service in 2001.
Night Owl, a late-night bus service, was started in 2001 and ran along subway lines from 1 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. every day.
While several different groups said they would like to see later service, nobody affiliated with the T or associated groups has made any mention of an effort to bring Night Owl back.
Ross said that late-night public transit is “not a budget that I control. I don’t vote on the budget. I’m not a state rep or a state senator.”
The major universities in Boston “could get together and maybe work together to try to help promote a late-night transit option partnership,” he said.
Some of the universities Ross  mentioned are “practically running a small transit agency of their own.”
For example, the Boston University Shuttle, The BUS, runs between BU’s Fenway area Charles River and South End Medical Campuses, with 11 different stops along the way.
Such a service may not get Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approval if universities dictate the routes, said Stewart Spina, a chair member of the T Riders Union (TRU), an organization based in Roxbury Crossing that campaigns for better conditions for T-riders. The FTA would consider that charter service, and “in the past, they’ve actually, for certain agencies, yanked funding and things like that.”
The MBTA shut down the Night Owl program in 2005 because of a $10 million deficit, local media reported. According to the MBTA website there was a “lack of ridership.”
In a statement, Richard A. Davey, general manager of the MBTA, said “I think it’s a great idea. Unfortunately, like everything in life, theres a price tag attached. Given our fiscal situation, we’re committed to providing the current levels of service that we have and that is not easy.”
In June, Davey told the Boston Herald he has considered bringing late-night service back. “The bottom line is that I am interested in it,” he told the Herald.
“It hasn’t been our number one priority,” Spina said. “However, though, lately we’ve been sort of re-approaching the idea of service on nights and weekends … We sort of dabble in Night Owl, but like I said it’s not something that TRU has really pushed on.”
Michelle Goico, a freshman international affairs major, said she would find late-night service useful.
“For us college students on the weekends [the early closing time] is really inconvenient. I’ve had to pay taxis a couple times, just to get back from MIT,” she said.
MBTA spokeswoman Lydia Rivera declined to comment about future late-night MBTA initiatives.
“We continue to work closely with community groups including TRU, ROC [MBTA’s Riders Oversight Committee], and neighborhood civic associations to ensure transit concerns, and recommendations are heard and when feasible implemented,” Rivera said.