OPINION

Published Monday, May 9, 2005
Cross-Registration, Fine; Cross-Town Bus, A Problem
University Policy Fails to Build Bridges Between Schools
By Sudesh Ebenezer

As a masters student interested in Medical Education, I often travel between Cambridge the University’s Longwood Campus near the Museum of Fine Arts.  I initially commuted via the T, but soon learned of the M2 Shuttle, which transports Harvard affiliates straight to Longwood free of charge.  Delighted, I used this service between Lamont Library and Harvard Medical School.

In early fall, I showed my student card to the driver, and boarded.  Towards the end of fall, drivers would request that passengers swipe their card through a machine, which I gladly did.

Then came a morning in February when I was in a rush to Longwood.  I swiped my card and, for the first time, the machine beeped loudly.  The driver stated that my card was not accepted.  Puzzled, I explained I rode frequently; the machine had always acted hospitably before.  He allowed me aboard, but said I must check my card at an office in Holyoke Center.  Otherwise, I’d have to start paying.

That afternoon, when I swiped my card again on the way back to Cambridge, the machine appeared to recognize me again.  I went to Holyoke Center to figure out the truth: was I legitimate, or a thief?

Then, the news: they told me I never was allowed to ride for free.  Only Harvard University faculty/staff and students of the Medical School, the Dental School, the School of Public Health, the Business School, Harvard College, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences could ride for free.  I was told that Ed School students must purchase tickets ($2) or use Crimson Cash.  HGSE did not have an agreement with MASCO, the company operating the shuttle.

I asked why the machine accepted my card for months, then deciding one morning to stop—and then start again.  I was told the machine probably wasn’t reading my card correctly the last several months, enabling me to ride without paying.  I was given a “Frequently Asked Questions” handout published in February 2005.  One of the questions was:  “Why is the card reader sometimes unresponsive to card swipes?”  Answer:  “The existing system is dependent upon radio frequency technology and has some range limitations.  The system will be upgraded in 2005 to address this problem.”

So there was the answer.  I had been riding the last five months as an unwitting freeloader.  The machine hadn’t been reading my card.  Out of curiosity, I tried to ride again.  For the several times I did ride, the machine only beeped twice.

I asked many for advice on handling this.  I have spoken to people at the Holyoke Center, Office of Student Affairs, the Registrar’s Office, and the dean’s office at various schools.  In the hope that some exception could be made, I have even explained that my Field Experience Placement is at the Medical School, so in a sense it is “mandatory” I go there because it is for an HGSE course.  All of this has been to no avail.  The general advice I receive is:  “Even though you are really supposed to pay, just continue to try to ride the bus for free, since they haven’t fixed the problem with the card reader, and the bus drivers can’t tell.”

I could take this simplistic attitude and continue riding the bus without paying.  But I find myself asking: is this the way future leaders – graduates of Harvard University – should resort to managing this issue?  Would riding the bus without paying when one knows that (s)he is required to pay based on his school affiliation, be ethical of a Harvard graduate, a future leader in society?

With the cost of my shuttle commute now $4 round-trip, I find myself trying to multi-task while at Longwood, rather than making multiple trips each week.  I no longer go to Countway Library “just to browse.”  That’s a shame for a University whose leaders profess to embrace the idea of interdisciplinary collaboration.  While it’s clear that resolving this issue comes down to money, it’s hard to believe this particular expense is an issue for the world’s richest university.  Right now, the shuttle is often not crowded at all, so it does not seem like it would even necessarily cost anything additional to open the bus to HGSE students.  Even if a free policy boosted ridership and required an extra bus now and then, I believe it would be a small price to pay for increased communication between students of diverse backgrounds and schools. 

Sudesh Ebenezer, MD, is an Ed.M. candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.