After a semester of hibernation, the Boston Bus Shuttle is back to transport Tufts students to and from Beantown on Friday and Saturday nights.
Starting this Friday, the shuttle will be departing from the campus center from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. on the hour. It will stop at the Boylston T stop at 25 minutes past the hour and then at Kenmore ten minutes later. The last bus will leave Kenmore for Tufts at 3:35 a.m. each night.
The Boston Bus Shuttle was first introduced during the 2004 spring semester by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate in response to student complaints about their social options on campus during weekends. Due to a lack of funding and student enthusiasm, the shuttle was discontinued before this past fall semester.
But a recent increase in student interest prompted the shuttle's return, said sophomore C.J. Mourning, chair of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate Service Committee. "The main reason [the shuttle] wasn't around last semester was because it wasn't being utilized enough a year ago, and responses from a student survey last fall showed that students didn't seem too interested in bringing it back," she said.
The change in attitudes became apparent during an open forum, according to Mourning. "It was during a town hall on Jan. 30 when we realized students really wanted the shuttle to be brought back," she said.
TCU Historian Alex Pryor said that the project required a significant amount of funding, so it was important that students show interest in using the shuttle.
"While the shuttle is not a new project altogether, it is expensive, so there has been an issue of finding the funding," TCU Historian Alexandra Pryor said. She also said that people in previous years had been "taking the shuttle for granted, but the Senate decided to bring it back due to such a high demand."
Although the shuttle's cost has typically been shared by the Dean of Student Affairs Office and the TCU Senate, Mourning said the Senate will be footing the entire bill this semester. "The Senate decided to use money from the Dean's Office towards other projects this year, and so the funding for the shuttle wasn't available for fall semester," Mourning said.
While the shuttle is free, and only a Tufts ID is needed to board, students have complained in the past that drivers weren't checking IDs, creating a potential safety issue. Mourning said that the Senate is taking steps to fix this.
"We have a contract with a different bus company this year and have made it clear in the contract that drivers must check students' IDs," she said. The Senate used the Joseph's Limousine shuttle services in the past but switched to the busing company Peter Pan this semester.
Students seem generally excited about the shuttle's return to Tufts.
"I'm glad that the univeristy is taking steps to improve ... social life," freshman Rameen Aryanpur said. "If you don't have a car or other means of transportation, it is literally impossible to do things off-campus after the T closes."
Freshman Nate Ingraham was similarly enthusiastic. "It's a positive step for improving the relations of Tufts students to their city," he said. "I can't wait to get on that bus."
Mourning echoed Aryanpur and Ingraham's sentiment.
"I'm definitely excited that the shuttle is back," Mourning said. "Tufts students often complain about not having enough opportunities to go into Boston at night because the T closes at one on the weekends. This will help fix the problem."
Mourning added that the Senate will be creating an announcement forum to let students know what events are going on in Boston during the weekends, but the project is "still in the works."
While official plans for the shuttle only deal with this semester, Mourning projected that the bus should be running next fall as well.
The 42-person bus will seat passengers on a first-come, first-serve basis.
