Recent Changes

The Shuttle Bus and Evening Van Service (SBEVS) announced a number of changes to its operations last December in response to a series of complaints by students about poor service, including long delays while waiting for buses and erratic scheduling.

Among the changes to the escort service were the addition of a dialy log and the replacement of the service's voice mail system with a telephone system answered by a real person.

As well, dispatchers now check to make sure drivers' watches are synchronized, provide callers with an approximate time for their wait and call students back when the escort arrives for the pick-up.

SBEVS has also set up an e-mail account to which students can send messages commenting on the service.

The account's address is trnsvcs@mums.harvard.edu

Witt said in a Crimson article last December that the changes for the shuttle service had been in the works since he took over this fall.

In addition, he said a number of the changes came about as a result of a Crimson column written by Sarah J. Schaffer '97, who is editorial chair of The Crimson, on November 17.

The column criticized the shuttles' timing and warned that erratic shuttles cause students to take risks late at night.

Sarah E. Flatley, assistant dean of students, said in December that student safety was not as major a motivation for the changes as a general desire to improve the shuttle program.

SBEVS 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 changes.

Changes being considered for the future include hiring more drivers and putting more phones by shuttle stops.