With the state facing a larger-than-expected budget deficit, the Department of Transportation (MassDOT) may be forced to scrap late-night MBTA service at the conclusion of the one-year pilot program.

When former governor Deval Patrick announced in Dec. 2013 that the T would provide late-night weekend subway and bus (key routes) service, Boston’s young professional and student classes rejoiced. The pilot program launched at the end of March, 2014, and has provided 850,000 trips over the last 10 months. Extended hours have kept subway service and bus service on 15 key routes running until 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

On Tuesday, Governor Charlie Baker revealed an estimated state budget deficit of $765 million. To help reduce the deficit, MassDOT will have to cut its spending by $25 million for the next fiscal year, which starts in July.

Citing preliminary data, the T’s general manager, Beverly Scott, told The Boston Globe about 20 percent of the late-night service’s ridership have used it to commute back and forth from work.

No promises were made that late-night service would be extended beyond the duration of the pilot. Despite what seem to be fairly consistent ridership numbers, the T didn’t put a number on the board that it would like to hit in order to call the program a success.

Photo via MBTA/Future Boston Alliance.