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Despite a recommendation from a city council committee (.pdf) to once again run trains into the wee hours of night, late-night subway service this holiday season will not happen. The culprit? The economy, of course.
According to Councilmember Jose Huizar's office, the economic atmosphere was just to rough to raise the capital needed to run the program. Last year, the $85,000 needed was mainly funded by community organizations and businesses, which enabled subway service until 3 a.m. along the Red Line on Friday and Saturday nights for six weekends. Downtown DASH buses also ran late into the night.
Huizar called the program a "great success," citing a study published by Metro. "[It] illustrates great demand and interest in late night transit for our City," he wrote in a letter to fellow councilmembers. Staying optimistic, he hopes to bring it back in 2010, perhaps approaching it with a 50/50 model--government agencies paying half with the community paying the rest.
Cedd Moses of 213, which operates a handful of bars downtown like Seven Grand, and who helped spearhead last year's effort, says he not only looks forward and is committed to making the program happen again, but to see the transit system be a 24/7 operation.
Currently, the last Red Line train leaves North Hollywood at 12:54 a.m., arriving at Union Station at 1:23 a.m. Leaving Union Station, the last train leaves at 12:17 a.m., arriving in North Hollywood at 12:47 a.m.
