Riders Dislike Med School Bus Fare

Most students who use the shuttle bus from Harvard Square to the Medical School say they appreciate the service, but dislike having to pay for it when the Harvard-Radcliffe shuttle is free.

Most students who ride the Med School shuttle must pay a fare of 50 cents each way. Only cross-registrants with classes at both the Med School and in Cambridge are entitled to free tokens.

Buses run every half-hour from Johnston Gate during the day and hourly in the evenings until 10:15, but do not run at all on weekends.

The Med School does not own the shuttles, but leases buses and drivers from the William S. Carroll Company. Harvard owns the red and gray H-R shuttles outright and pays students to drive them.

Thomas Vacha, director of the H-R shuttle, said the Faculty conducted a cost analysis of the shuttle bus operations last year, the first time they were used. The study showed that buying four buses and employing student drivers would cost no more than renting them from the Big W Company in Ashland.

"We suggested that the Med School shuttle be included in the H-R system," Vacha said, "but they turned down the proposal. I don't foresee any change until the Med School is willing to underwrite the entire cost."

The Med School shuttle operates on a $30,000-a-year budget, half of which the school pays for. Riders' fares pay the other $15,000.

"Why should we spend money on the contractors when we can give some students a job?" Vacha said of the H-R shuttle. He said students--usually working 11 hours a week--put in a weekly total of 150 to 175 driving hours.

Vacha also said that the H-R shuttle is a security measure since it runs until 1:30 a.m., while the Med School bus is only a "convenience."

Only enrolled students can ride the H-R shuttle, but anyone who is willing to pay can ride on the Med School bus. But students who use it often but are not taking classes in Cambridge say they resent having to pay.

Some students manage to avoid 50-cent fare even if not enrolled at school in Cambridge. A grad student in physiology, who has to commute daily, complained to the Med School business offive, saying that the fare was an "undue hardship." She now receives ten free tokens per week.