[GSC-HCA-Offcampus] Q&A on the Somerville Saferide

[HCA Off-Campus Chair]

Dear off-campus community,


Below is a Q&A from GSC Transportation about the Somerville shuttle pilot
program. This is especially relevant for off-campus students and families.
Please direct questions directly to the GSC Transportation Subcommittee at
gsc-hca-transportation at mit.edu.


Have a great week!

Luke and Kelsey

Off Campus Co-Chairs

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[image: http://gsc.mit.edu/uploads/Logos/GSC-Logo-Main-White.png]<http://gsc.mit.edu/>

As the weather gets colder and makes the commute to MIT more difficult, we
would like to remind everyone of the new shuttle line that the GSC and MIT
Transportation are pilot testing through the Fall term. The new Somerville
Saferide<http://web.mit.edu/facilities/transportation/shuttles/schedules/Saferide_Somerville2013.pdf>
runs
seven days a week from 6 PM to 2:30 AM Sunday through Wednesday and from 6
PM to 3:30 AM Thursday through Saturday. It hits stops like Inman and Union
Squares within 15 minutes of departure from campus.

Because the shuttle is new, we are still working out a couple of early
kinks, and we will benefit greatly from your feedback as you ride the line.
Our commitment to you is to pass along every/any issue you may find
directly to the folks who make things happen in the Transportation Office.
That said, we want to offer you a brief Q&A guide to the most common notes
we’ve received:

*SOMERVILLE SAFERIDE Q&A*

*Q:*

*Where is the shuttle line on the MIT App? It would be much better if the
live tracking were there!*

*A:*

*We agree completely! The reason the new shuttle line is not yet on the app
is because the amount of time and cost it would take to import the new line
doesn’t make sense until the line is approved for continuance. Don’t worry
though! For now, you can find the live tracking at the NextBus website
<http://www.nextbus.com/predictor/prediction.shtml?a=mit&r=saferidesomerville&d=frcamp&s=mass84_d>
and
on the NextBus App.*

*Q:*

*I noticed the bus doesn’t always show up on time. What’s the deal?*

*A:*

*The current NextBus predictions are accurate about 95% of the time,
however the prediction algorithms get better as more data points are
collected over time. If the line is approved for the long-term the quality
of predictions will be the same as all the other buses at MIT.*

*Q:*

*How did you plan the route and direction? Can you make changes?*

*A:*

*Sure! We can provide regular input to MIT Transportation to make changes
and improvements as the line is trialed, so please let us know what you
think. That said, we do want you to know that the line's route and stops
were chosen using an algorithm that attempted to maximize the number of
students within walking distance of the line and minimize the total time
spent walking by students to pick-up locations.*

*Q:*

*You’ve mentioned a couple of times about the line being "continued." How
does this work?*

*A:*

*If we attain sufficient ridership numbers through the Fall term MIT will
consider making the line permanent and cover the cost of service. In other
words, if you like the new shuttle line, please ride it. If you don’t
please let us know what’s wrong so we can improve it before the final
decision.*

You can reach the GSC Transportation Subcommittee at
gsc-hca-transportation at mit.edu <%20gsc-hca-transportation at mit.edu>. We are
a group of MIT graduate students from four different departments
volunteering to try and make transportation better. We will compile the
responses from all graduate students and use them to propose improvements
in the service and support the importance of the line. Please let us know
ways we can improve our pilot!
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