[Sci-tech-public] change to EZRide shuttle service

[kris kipp]

>
>The Board Members of the Charles River Transportation Management 
>Association (CRTMA) recently approved the following change to EZRide 
>shuttle service.
>
>
>Effective Date:  Monday November 8, 2004
>
>
>Stop Closing:  Lechmere Outbound Morning Service Only
>
>Summary
>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.
>
>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.
>
>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.
>
>Background Information
>
>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.
>
>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.
>
>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.
>
>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.
>
>We apologize for the inconvenience to the handful of riders who board at 
>Lechmere.
>
>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.
>
>Lechmere Inbound stop will be unaffected by this change, and will remain 
>open to all passengers morning and evening.
>
>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.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Jim Gascoigne
>
>Jim Gascoigne
>Executive Director
>Charles River TMA
>P  617-324-6119
>F  617-258-6357
>E  coin1 at mit.edu
>W  www.masscommute.com/tmas/crtma
>
>
>###################################################
>Larry Brutti
>Operations Manager
>Parking and Transportation
>Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>77 Massachusetts Avenue, E32-105
>Cambridge, MA  02139
>Phone: 617-253-5142
>Fax:     617-258-6357
>URL:    http://web@mit.edu/parking
>###################################################

Kris Kipp
Project Manager
Program in Science, Technology, and Society
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Mass. Ave., E51-185
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617-253-9759
Fax: 617-258-8118
Email: kipp at mit.edu 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/sci-tech-public/attachments/20041101/a1a62790/attachment.htm