Allston Residents Unhappy with Limited Shuttle Service

While Allston and Brighton residents can now take the Harvard shuttle across the Charles River to Harvard Square for free, some residents have expressed concerns that the benefits of the shuttle service are negligible without an extension of existing shuttle routes.

Open access to shuttle services was announced to Allston residents last spring, according to University spokesperson Lauren M. Marshall, but Harvard-Allston Task Force member Brent C. Whelan ’73 said residents did not hear of changes until July. The shuttle’s current route in Allston cuts through Harvard Business School, but does not reach residential neighborhoods south of Western Avenue. Consequently, residents said that the shuttle does not effectively increase access to Harvard Square.

“The service being offered is… completely meaningless to the community,” Whelan said.

Harry E. Mattison, another member of the task force, echoed Whelan’s concerns.

“The shuttle doesn’t come anywhere near this neighborhood,” Mattison said.

Both task force members said that they believed Harvard’s efforts to benefit the Allston community have fallen short of residents’ expectations.

“Harvard’s interest is in generating a list of things that can be called community benefits that really cost nothing,” Whelan said.

Marshall wrote in an emailed statement to The Crimson that the extension of the shuttle service to include Allston and Brighton residents came “as a result of community interest over recent years.” The University’s intent, the statement continued, is to “benefit our neighbors in Allston who have worked closely with us in the transitions of functions to Travis Street,” where Harvard relocated many of its campus service facilities in March.

According to Whelan, community representatives first discussed the possibility of access to shuttle services in 2006.

Some Allston residents are less critical of the change. Reynold M. McKinney, an Allston resident whose father and brother attended Harvard, said he was pleased to learn of the shuttle service announcement.

“Having the Harvard shuttle is really going to be a benefit to the people,” he said. “I am astounded at how much Harvard is willing to do for the Allstonians. They’re willing to give them anything.”

Harvard filed its Institutional Master Plan for development in Allston—which proposed nine construction projects including a new basketball arena and the Allston Science Complex—in July. Increased shuttle access represents one element of a community benefits package that has been debated all summer by the University and the task force. While the task force has not finalized the community benefits package, Whelan said that he expects Harvard to put forward a serious commitment to large changes.

Both Whelan and Mattison mentioned the importance of Harvard’s investment in the Gardner Pilot Academy, a pre-kindergarten through grade seven public school in Allston, as one of these commitments. Whelan also suggested the refurbishment of Smith Field, which lies west of Barry’s Corner, and the creation of an access road that would allow Harvard’s construction trucks to bypass public roads. He estimated that each project would cost $3 million or more, but said that in every case, the investment would be transformational in a way current community benefit offerings have not been.

“This current plan… is so shrunken that it is about nothing except what Harvard needs in the next 10 years,” Whelan said.

—Staff writer Marco J. Barber Grossi can be reached at mbarbergrossi@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @marco_jbg.