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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font color="#0000FF"><br>
The Board Members of the Charles River Transportation Management
Association (CRTMA) recently approved the following change to EZRide
shuttle service.<br><br>
<br>
</font><font size=4><i>Effective Date: Monday November 8,
2004<br><br>
<br>
</i><b>Stop Closing: Lechmere Outbound Morning Service
Only<br><br>
</font>Summary<br>
</b>We regret to inform riders that EZRide will no longer pick up
passengers at the Lechmere Outbound stop, located on First Street at Otis
Street, during the morning commute only.<br><br>
Passengers who normally board at Lechmere Outbound are directed to board
on First Street at the corner of Charles Street. This stop is
approximately 1100 feet away, and is located in front of the Mattress
Store across from the Best Buy at the CambridgeSide Galleria.<br><br>
Riders who wish to exit the shuttle at Lechmere may do so by notifying
the driver in advance of their intention to exit at First St. and Otis
St.<br><br>
<b>Background Information<br><br>
</b>Due to increasing ridership at North Station, morning runs are often
full or near capacity when they reach Lechmere. We expect
additional runs at capacity as the fall yields to winter. By
Massachusetts law, we cannot take on additional passengers when at
capacity. Because few passengers disembark at Lechmere
Outbound stop, in some rare instances we have been forced to leave
passengers at the curb.<br><br>
Legal passenger capacity for these buses is set at 24 seats plus 6
standees (25% of seated capacity for standees). Unfortunately, even
buses that appear to have plenty of physical room for additional standees
do not have legal room to take on passengers. <br><br>
EZRide regularly discharges a handful of passengers at the First Street
stop, located at the corner of Charles Street, thus creating capacity to
take on new passengers. <br><br>
Please recognize that there is a tradeoff here. In exchange for
walking a fifth of a mile, Lechmere passengers get greater reliability
that we will not on occasion be forced by the legal passenger load limit
to leave them at the curb. <br><br>
We apologize for the inconvenience to the handful of riders who board at
Lechmere. <br><br>
Lechmere Outbound will remain open to all passengers during the evening
commute. Outbound passengers from North Station may still
exit the bus at Lechmere Outbound by notifying the driver of their desire
to exit the shuttle. <br><br>
Lechmere Inbound stop will be unaffected by this change, and will remain
open to all passengers morning and evening.<br><br>
We are studying other long term options to return service at Lechmere
Outbound in the morning, and welcome any suggestions that you may
have. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any
questions.<br><br>
Sincerely,<br><br>
Jim Gascoigne<br><br>
Jim Gascoigne<br>
Executive Director<br>
Charles River TMA<br>
P 617-324-6119<br>
F 617-258-6357<br>
E coin1@mit.edu<br>
W
<a href="http://www.masscommute.com/tmas/crtma" eudora="autourl">www.masscommute.com/tmas/crtma</a>
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Larry Brutti<br>
Operations Manager<br>
Parking and Transportation<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
77 Massachusetts Avenue, E32-105<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
Phone: 617-253-5142<br>
Fax: 617-258-6357<x-tab> </x-tab><br>
URL:<x-tab> </x-tab><a href="http://web@mit.edu/parking" eudora="autourl">http://web@mit.edu/parking</a><br>
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<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Kris Kipp<br>
Project Manager<br>
Program in Science, Technology, and Society<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
77 Mass. Ave., E51-185<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
Phone: 617-253-9759<br>
Fax: 617-258-8118<br>
Email: kipp@mit.edu</body>
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