New Shuttle Schedule Receives Mixed Reviews

Harvard's Shuttle Service redesigned its schedules this year to accommodate students' needs. But after a month's experience with the new timetables, not all undergraduates appreciate the changes.

During the summer, Shuttle Services made significant schedule changes on its Currier and Mather House routes, adding new times and shifting others so that buses arrive at more regular times.

Some upperclass students say the new system fixes gaps in the service.

"Last year you could not get back to the Quad between 3:50 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. whereas this year you can," said Hamilton H. Hicks '01 of Currier House.

But others have voiced complaints about the new system, saying they fear that shuttles near the top of the hour will be quickly filled, forcing students to walk.

"They are simply not enough shuttles when the demand is high," said Cabot resident Wesley T. W. Shih '01.

"I just hope that less people end up walking as a result of the revamping," wrote Pforzheimer House resident Fabianna S. Del Canto '02 in an e-mail message to Pfoho-open, a House-wide mailing list. "The volume of students taking the shuttles is not regularly spread out. Shuttle service should reflect this."

Last year, Quad residents could count on five shuttles around 10 a.m. This year there is one at 9:50 a.m. and only two at 10 a.m.

"If we have a 10 a.m. class, the most logical time to have two shuttles would be at 9:50, not 10, when class is already starting, and I know for certain that there has only been one shuttle at 10," Del Canto wrote.

Justin S. Wohler '02, also a Pforzheimer resident, said he anticipates severe crowding problems as the weather turns cold and wet.

"There should not be a last-minute change to the schedule when Harvard realizes that many students are forced to walk to class in the rain and snow," Wohler said. "The schedule should take this into account now."

Wohler criticized "gaps in the service," adding that few shuttles take students from the Quad to the Stadium and athletic facilities.

Shuttle Service officials said the schedule is an annual work in progress. Carl A. Tempesta, operations manager for transportation services, said he is open to hearing the concerns of students.

"We intend to get involved in the House committees again to get feedback from the student body and to see what we can do to help," he said.

Many undergraduates in the Quad and in Dunster and Mather Houses rely on the shuttles, which also provide transportation for faculty, administrators and graduate students.

This year, there are four new morning pickup times at Mather and seven at Currier, "to help those who want to study or workout, or who need to get to Harvard Square for a job," Tempesta said.

A weekend shuttle from Soldiers Field Park to Lamont Library now also stops at Currier, to accommodate religiously observant students and members of study groups, said David E. Harris Jr., general manager of transportation. Other evening shuttles now run from Lamont to the Business School parking lot.

Daytime pickup times at Mather and Currier have also been simplified to make it easier for students to remember the schedule. For instance, at Currier most departures occur every 10 minutes, starting on the hour.

"All of the schedule changes that were made for this year came at no additional cost and improved service for the Harvard community at large," Tempesta said.

Changes were made after consulting with House committees, individual students and Undergraduate Council Vice President John A. Burton '01.