Shuttle Service Makes Changes To Fix Delays

The Shuttle Bus and Evening Van Service (SBEVS) has announced a number of changes in its operations in response to criticism that students waiting for rides have experienced long delays and erratic scheduling.

Peter M. Witt, general manager of transportation services, said yesterday the changes are the result of an evaluation he has been conducting of the shuttle service since arriving on the job this fall.

"These are things that I think have been in the process for a while," Witt said, adding that several of the changes came in response to a Crimson editorial column written by Sarah J. Schaffer '97 on November 17.

The column, which was titled "Shuttle Bus Stupidity," criticized the shuttles' timing and warned that erattic shuttles cause students to take risks late at night.

Among the changes made to the shuttle program are the addition of a daily log and the replacement of the current voice mail system with a telephone system answered by a real person.

In addition, Witt said, dispatchers will check to make sure that drivers' watchers are synchronized, will not provide callers with an approximate time for their wait and will call students back when the escort arrives for the pick up.

Finally, Witt said concerns about the service can be sent to a new e-mail account: trnsvcs@mums.harvard.edu.

Sarah E. Flatley, assistant dean of students, said yesterday the dean's office is pleased with the changes.

"I hope that students make full use of [the service]," she said.

Flatley said the changes were motivated less by concerns about students' safety than by a desire to improve the shuttle program.

"I think that this is something that Harvard just has been working toward to try to improve transportation," Hatley said.

SBFVS was created this fall when the Escort Service, formerly run by the Harvard University Police Department, was merged with the shuttle services.

Last spring the shuttle service polled students on changes that should be made to the program, and schedules were altered accordingly, Witt wrote in a letter summarizing the program changes.

Witt said a group comprised of representatives from the schools funding the service will consider making additional schedule changes, hiring more drivers and placing phones by shuttle stops.