Boston Night Owl: A Framework for Introducing Overnight Bus Service That Can Close Significant Spatiotemporal Gaps in Greater Boston's Transit System

Abstract

There are people traveling at every hour of the day. Cities by their nature function throughout the 24-hour day, however the same is not always true of their transit systems. Just as in the day time, overnight public transportation exists to provide mobility access to the people who need or choose to travel at night. This thesis explores the first steps in developing an overnight transit service in a region where it does not currently exist, using the Boston area as a case study. This is done through a two-step process: first, identifying where and when the service should be run, and second, learning from existing overnight systems around the world to understand how the service should operate. As part of the method, the thesis proposes a novel approach to identifying areas with acute disparity between transit supply and demand, colloquially known as “transit deserts,” that involves taking into account how these factors change both spatially and temporally. The end result of this thesis is a framework that planners in cities and transit agencies can use when creating a system that can close these gaps. This is an approach that planners will find useful not just in planning night time service, but for planning service at all times of the day.