GPS To Aid Shuttling Students

Instead of chasing after the shuttle, students will soon be able to track its precise location and movement on a real-time online map.

All Harvard shuttles are now equipped with a Web-based Global Positioning System (GPS) that cost up to $150,000 to install, according to Director of Transportation Services John Nolan.

The program, which goes live on Monday, superimposes color-coded lines for the various shuttle routes on a standard map highlighting the College, Business School, and Law School campuses.

Corresponding balloon-shaped icons depict the positions of the shuttles and move along the lines to show viewers where vehicles are headed at any given moment.

Only the routes that are in use at the time appear on the map—available at www.shuttle.harvard.edu—and viewers have control over which paths they want to see and the option to hide any of the routes. Users can also zoom in and out and shift the map around to focus on certain areas.

Nolan said he hoped this new function would make the shuttle system more user-friendly and reduce time waiting for shuttles that are running late. He said Yale and Emory use the same technology.

Cabot House Committee Co-Chair Ajay G. Kumar ’08 said he thinks the new system will help improve safety for students traveling late at night.

“Instead of having to wait at Boylston Gate for maybe 10 or 15 minutes at 2 a.m., they can just walk out when it’s coming,” Kumar said.

The installation of GPS technology on the shuttles has been in the works since June 2006, according to General Manager for Transportation Services David E. Harris, Jr.

Difficulties encountered during contract negotiations pushed the completion date back several times over the past year, Nolan said.

Last October, Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II said the shuttles would be equipped with GPS by February. In February, McLoughlin expressed hope that the system would be running by May.

This GPS capability adds to a growing list of new technologies aimed to make the current shuttle services more useful to riders.

Last month, Shuttleboy.com announced that the site, which has allowed students to find shuttle times online since 1998, now offers a text messaging function. In March, Cabot House installed an LED screen in the dining hall that counts down the time to the next shuttle.

—Staff writer Victoria B. Kabak can be reached at vkabak@fas.harvard.edu.