(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) voted to make a pilot program, that provides early morning bus service, permanent.
The program started last April on 10 busy bus routes with services as early as 4 a.m. MBTA’s Laurel Paget-Seekins said the pilot program proved there is a need for the early morning service.
“We expected that, potentially, there was demand for service earlier. So what the results of the pilot found after eight months is that that was in fact true, that we saw additional trips,” Paget-Seekins said. “So, new riders we hadn’t previously seen start taking trips, as well as people — who are taking later trips on those same routes — move to take the earlier trip, presumably because that served their needs better.”
The program targets routes that have seen severe overcrowding during the morning hours.
WBZ NewsRadio1030’s Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports