Boston Metro Abruptly Closes, Final Paper Published

The free daily paper that greeted commuters in the Boston area for nearly two decades has published for the last time. The Boston Metro said in a note to readers that Wednesday morning was its final day of operation.

"After 19 years in Boston, we are sad to announce the closure of Metro Boston, effective today," the note read. "We realize this may seem sudden, but after our New York and Philadelphia editions were sold, we no longer have access to centralized resources, and a difficult decision had to be made."

Metro New York and Metro Philadelphia were recently sold to a New York media company.

The Metro was often found outside MBTA stations and littered across seats and floors of the train. Commuters could be found buried in the free daily, but as with all newspapers, times have changed.

The paper at its height had a circulation of 300,000 in 2005, but managed around 50,000 of late, according to the Boston Business Journal.