The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate and the Green Cab Association are finalizing an agreement to give Tufts students a flat rate for rides to the airport this December.
The agreement stems from student displeasure over high fares to the airport. Currently, two students picked up from different locations on campus sharing a cab to the same airport destination must pay full fare.
Students riding alone are also charged the full metered fare, along with any fees for tolls.
TCU Senator and freshman Bruni Hirsch contacted Green Cab this fall in hopes of creating a cheaper way for students to get to Logan International. While the Senate runs the Turkey Shuttle for students heading home before Thanksgiving, no such transportation exists before winter break.
"It's so much cheaper to take the T," Hirsch said. "But kids will have a lot more luggage for winter break. [Cabs are] a lot faster, too."
Green Cab Association manager Bill Horn said his company has agreed to a deal that is "win-win for both students and [cab] drivers," by which Green Cab will charge a flat rate of $20 per person if the Senate arranges for groups of students to meet at the Campus Center and split a ride to the airport.
According to Horn, Tufts students comprise a large demographic of Green Cab's business. "We don't want to give our competition a chance to come in and take our business," he said.
To uphold the arrangement, the Senate must ensure that a cab picking up Tufts students leaves with no fewer than two passengers.
Hirsch said the Senate will post a sign-up sheet in the Campus Center, where students will write in times they need a cab to the airport. Hirsch will then forward the list to Horn, who will arrange for a pick-up at the specified times.
"Students are going to have to know their flight time in advance," Hirsch said.
One obstacle to the agreement is fear of students backing out. "If one student doesn't show, it isn't feasible for a driver to take a student for $20," Hirsch said. "If [drivers] aren't making more than $20 per ride, it isn't fair."
A single metered fare from Tufts to the airport "would probably run in the low thirties one way," Horn said. Drivers would lose money if they charged $20 for a single ride.
But the new agreement won't necessarily benefit everyone. Students who would normally split a ride from the same dorm will be charged $20 a head, whereas before the agreement they would have each paid half of the metered fare.
These students "will get the short end of the stick," Horn said.
Both Horn and Hirsch are hesitant to set the agreement in stone, however. "I think we'll have to see how it goes this year," Hirsch said. "It may end up being too much of a burden."
Green Cab operates under Somerville regulations and meter fares are determined by the city. The company lends cars to drivers for a certain cost, and whatever amount drivers make on top of the cost is profit.
According to Horn, cab drivers have not yet been made aware of the new flat fare rate for the month of December.
