Council To Offer Cheap Holiday Shuttles to New York

Joseph R. Geschlecht ’06 had planned to take a bus to New Haven and then board a commuter train to reach his New York City-area home for Thanksgiving.

Now, he said, he might take the Undergraduate Council’s New York City Thanksgiving shuttle, which costs $34 for a round trip ticket, instead.

Although the service is just six dollars less than an Entertainment Tours shuttle that also goes from Boston to New York, the council’s shuttle leaves directly from Johnston Gate instead of picking up from South Station or other Boston-area universities.

Tickets went on sale Thursday for the shuttle, which leaves in the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 27 and returns in the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 1.

According to some students, the late start of ticket sales and lack of publicity kept them from taking advantage of the service, since they have already bought tickets home.

This is the first year the council has arranged shuttle service for Thanksgiving.

The council first offered a New York shuttle bus one-way on a trial basis last winter break. Due to its success, they offered service both ways for Presidents’ Day Weekend.

“It went really well last year, and it’s really something that’s important to continue,” said Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’04, social chair of the Campus Life Committee (CLC). “I know students last year seemed to really appreciate it.”

The New York shuttle was added to an already-existing council program that offers shuttles to Boston’s Logan Airport. This year, council members said they plan to offer $5 hourly airport shuttles from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

According to Geschlecht, the council’s shuttle service is particularly useful on Thanksgiving weekend, when cheap tickets are harder to come by. He said he was worried that even if he bought tickets for a Greyhound bus to New York—which run around $90 for a round trip—he might not be guaranteed a seat.

But some students said they did not know the council was offering a New York shuttle. As a result, many have already made their plans for the busiest travel weekend of the year.

“I had never heard of it,” Moira G. Weigel ’06 wrote in an e-mail. “I probably would have [taken the shuttle], had I known.”

Michael R. Blickstead ’05, CLC services chair, said the council sent out e-mails to House lists late Wednesday night and plans to table in front of the Science Center to fill any available seats. He also said that it was especially difficult to notify first-years of the service.

“We sent out the e-mail to the House lists [Wednesday],” he said. “The problem year after year is that we don’t have a freshman list to send everything to.”

Although Blickstead said he did not think many people had signed up yet, he said he was sure there would be interest and the council would secure as many buses as necessary.

Even though Entertainment Tours offers more frequent bus service to New York for only six more dollars, Blickstead encouraged students to choose the council’s shuttle.

“You’re still saving six dollars, you’re with fellow students, it fosters a sense of community,” he said. “If you talk to people who took the Presidents’ Day Weekend shuttle last year, they said it was a fun environment.”

Stannard-Friel said students would prefer the council shuttle because it departs from Johnston Gate.

“The bigger thing I think is the convenience of it,” she said. “I know that the first time I went to South Station, it was a little daunting.”

Still, some students said they consider the council’s service unnecessary.

“I personally would not necessarily use it,” said Ariane I. Tschumi ’06. “I feel that the current options...are more than suitable, and actually at good prices.”