Council Shuttle Service Delays Cause Student Ire

Confronted with complaints from students, the Undergraduate Council is investigating a number of problems with its holiday shuttle services to Logan Airport.

Eli A. Poliakoff '00, a member of the Campus Life Committee, arranged for Brush Hill Transportation to drive buses from Johnston Gate to the Quad and on to Logan Airport.

Shuttles were supposed to leave every hour from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, December 16 and Wednesday, December 17, the last day of classes.

Some buses were apparently late and some buses to the Quad apparently never showed up while others were overbooked, he said.

The exact details of the problems are difficult to pinpoint, Poliakoff said. Council representatives did not stand at every bus stop to ensure each bus rider had the appropriate ticket, he said.

In response to e-mail complaints and angry messages posted to the council newsgroup, Poliakoff spoke to Sal Rauseo, the bus company manager, for an explanation of the bus problems.

Poliakoff said he received a letter of apology from Brush Hill Transportation, signed by Rauseo. The letter did not offer a refund or a reimbursement, he said.

The letter reads:

"On December 16 and 17, 1997, the Harvard-Radcliffe Undergraduate Council hired Brush Hill Transportation to take students to Logan Airport. The vast majority of the buses ran as scheduled. For a small number of the shuttles, some drivers misunderstood the exact orders, causing temporary delays in transportation. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused to the students taking the U.C. shuttle. Brush Hill looks forward to serving the Harvard community again."

Poliakoff himself was on a 9 a.m. Wednesday shuttle that was overbooked. The bus, with a capacity of 45, was sold out. When students without tickets showed up at Johnston Gate, the bus driver began selling tickets to students for $2 apiece, the regular price. Ten students, according to Poliakoff, were bumped from the bus because extra tickets were sold by the bus driver.

"It was an honest mistake by the bus driver," Poliakoff says. "He was just trying to help out."

Poliakoff said that the bus company is sending the council a check for $20 for the 10 extra tickets.

Unfortunately, that was not an isolated incident.

For David Y. Ahn '99, Grace S. Kwak '98 and David C. Park '99, the shuttle experience was an early morning nightmare. Waiting for the Wednesday 4 a.m. shuttle, the three huddled for more than an hour in the pre-dawn cold at the Quad stop.

Fortunately, not all luck was lost--a station wagon taxi had passed by the group several times during the hour and the group finally decided to flag it down

Unfortunately, that was not an isolated incident.

For David Y. Ahn '99, Grace S. Kwak '98 and David C. Park '99, the shuttle experience was an early morning nightmare. Waiting for the Wednesday 4 a.m. shuttle, the three huddled for more than an hour in the pre-dawn cold at the Quad stop.

Fortunately, not all luck was lost--a station wagon taxi had passed by the group several times during the hour and the group finally decided to flag it down