I think it was Portland (it was somewhere in the Pacific NW) in the 90's had a "custom bus" running late at night. If you lived within 2 miles of a regular bus route, you could phone in a request, and a dispatcher would make up a new bus line for that night that would pick up everyone who called in.
For public transit to work this is important. In the early hours of the morning few people want to get around typically. However the fear that you cannot get around if you need to holds people back. However if I know that should I need to there is an option that isn't too expensive I'm likely try it.
Minneapolis used to have a guaranteed ride home (might still do, I don't live there anymore) to cover people who took the bus somewhere, but had to work last.
