Students who shelled out money for cab rides home from Boston the first six weeks of school will get a respite this weekend.
The campus shuttle to and from Boston will resume on Friday, Oct. 21, and the bus will be provided by a more expensive company than last spring.
Organized by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, the service began in spring 2004 through the Vocell Bus Company. The Senate kept the contract with Vocell the following semester, but last spring switched to Joseph's Limousine and Transportation - the same company that runs the campus shuttle to Davis Square.
Due to scheduling problems and delays, though, the Senate chose to return to Vocell for this semester. "Despite the higher price, the service provided by Vocell was superior," TCU President Jeff Katzin said.
"This project is only effective if the student body can depend on the timeliness of the busses," he said. Katzin, a senior, began the service as a sophomore senator.
The bus did not run the first six weeks, Katzin said, because the Senate was trying to find money for the service. The Senate has budgeted for the shuttle to run this semester and expects to allocate the necessary money to continue the service next semester.
When the shuttle service began, the cost was shared by the School of Arts and Sciences. This was managed by former Arts, Sciences and Engineering Executive Administrative Dean Wayne Bouchard.
When Bouchard left the school after the spring of 2004, his responsibilities were split between the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering. The position in the School of Arts and Sciences is now open, so no money has been provided by the administration for the shuttle.
The shuttle takes students into Boston on Friday and Saturday nights. It runs from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., leaving the campus center every hour on the hour. It stops at the Boylston T stop at 25 past the hour and the Kenmore T stop at 35 past the hour.
The bus will run every weekend until Dec. 3, except for Thanksgiving weekend, a total of 12 nights. Students can board the bus with their Tufts ID cards.
Sophomore senator Stephen Blaker, who is now in charge of the shuttle project, said he will respond to any complaints, especially those about scheduling. "Basically, we have to make sure it stops at the right places, and that students know to have their ID cards out when the bus comes," he said. Boston traffic makes it difficult for the shuttle to stay on schedule, he said.
Blaker said he was optimistic about the dozen times the shuttle will operate this semester. "It worked successfully in the past, so hopefully it will work well again," he said.
