MBTA Agrees to Conduct Late-Night Civil Rights Analysis

Photo By Olga Khvan

The MBTA has backtracked on its decision to skip a civil rights analysis on the impact that cutting late-night weekend service would have on low-income and minority riders.

The agency received a harsh critique from the Federal Transit Administration last week for failing to comply with the federal guidelines that required the analysis. According to Boston.com, a lawyer for the MBTA said that a study will be completed this week.

MBTA board members voted last week to halt late-night weekend hours, which will go into effect on March 18. The organization did file a request for the civil rights analysis to be waived; however, the FTA rejected it.

Even though the agency is going through with the analysis, don’t expect to see late-night service restored. The MBTA can still end the service even if the analysis finds that there is a disproportionate impact on low-income and minority residents, as long as some actions are taken to lessen the blow.

The MBTA has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. Not only did the agency cut its late-night service, but there are plans in place to scale back the Green Line extension into Somerville and Medford. The MBTA also recently voted to raise fares across the board by 9.3 percent.