I'm a freshman. I don't own a car. I don't own a bike. I don't plan on buying a scooter. There are two ways for me to get to Davis Square: walking and taking the shuttle. One would expect that taking the Tufts shuttle would be the quicker and more convenient way to get to the hustle and bustle of Davis Square. However, I, along with countless comrades, have had the unpleasant experience to bear witness to the horrible atrocities of the Tufts shuttle service. There have been so many horror stories that I don't even know where to start.
Let me first explain how the shuttle just does not operate on a 15-minute loop. Last Saturday, I was planning to meet some friends in Harvard Square for dinner. They told me to meet them at 8:00 p.m. I figured that if I left the Tufts campus around 7:15 p.m. I would be okay. I should have known much better.
When I got to the campus center stop, there were about twenty people waiting to get on the next shuttle. I thought I could squeeze my way in, but once again, I should have known better. The shuttle, coming from the Olin stop, seemed to have already been jam-packed. Instantly, the twenty or so people waiting at the stop rushed to the door. What followed closely resembled a level of competition only to be found in the Olympics. Let's just say that I did not possess the skill, prowess, and determination necessary to get a spot on the bus. I stood and watched the bus pull away, filled with students, but not me. I was relieved to discover that others were also unable to get a seat!
So, we decided to fight the cold, thinking that 15 minutes would not be too long to wait outside for the next shuttle. Again, I should have known better. To make a long story short, the next shuttle came 40 minutes later. By then, the crowd outside had amassed to about fifty students. As the bus pulled to the stop, I clenched my fist, preparing for the mad dash to the bus door. In continuing to make a long story short, I did not make it on the bus. Fatigued and discouraged that I could not get onto the bus twice in a row, I decided to trek down to Davis by foot. The fifteen-minute walk brought me to the Davis Square T station at around 8:10 p.m. If I had just walked the first time, I would have had been to dinner on time. So much for a quick and convenient shuttle service.
The horror stories do not end with my personal experience. One of my friends told me that he once saw the bus parked in front of Store 24, and thought that the stop must have been changed again. He walked up to the door, only to find the driver sleeping in the front seat. After knocking on the door several times, the driver woke up, opened the door, and yelled at my friend, telling him that it would be the last time he would let anyone get on the bus in front of Store 24. On another occasion, a friend told me that he jumped on the Somerville movie theater stop and found the shuttle driver reading a newspaper. My friend waited a good ten minutes before the driver decided to put down the paper and resume his duties. Who are we getting to drive these buses? How long are we going to take this?
I read the Daily coverage on the shuttle bus problems and could not agree more with some of the issues mentioned. I think there are two big issues here: promptness and safety. With the school so worried about getting sued for everything, I don't understand why they haven't done anything to fix this. It seems to me that adding another shuttle, at least on the busier weekend nights, would solve the problem. Students would not have to worry about waiting 40 minutes for a shuttle. And once the shuttle gets there, student won't have to worry about not being able to get on. Lastly, with two shuttles running, students will not have to cram themselves onboard to the point that there is a serious safety liability. It is the responsibility of the University to allow students easy and reliable access to off-campus outlets, especially after last semester's busting down of the social scene.
We have all heard the horror stories, and some of us have lived through them. There could be a point in time that students might not be able to live through them, especially with some shuttles being filled way over capacity, looking like human deathtraps. An over-filled shuttle is a dangerous shuttle, and it leaves me wondering why Tufts is not worried about this liability concern. In general, students are fed up with the outrageous waiting time to catch a shuttle. Some don't feel safe even if they get the chance to get on the shuttle. I'm tired of the waits and afraid of the safety hazards, too. Maybe its time to start looking for a good scooter.
