This weekend, the Student Union arranged for additional Saturday transportation services to Boston for students interested in participating in the “March for Our Lives” demonstration at Boston Common. This board commends the Union and other responsible parties for organizing these much-needed extra shuttles, and we encourage the University to take similar action with events and demonstrations in the future. Such careful planning and attentiveness to students’ needs should be applauded.

However, not all transportation-related affairs ran smoothly this weekend due to oversights on the part of the University and carelessness on the part of students. On March 9, the Boston shuttle stop moved temporarily to Massachusetts Avenue and Newbury Street due to ongoing construction. Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan informed students of this change with an email the day before the move took place. However, despite this brief notice to the student body, some confusion about the stop location remained even two weeks after the change. Students have continued to gather at the old stop location near Marlborough Street, and on Saturday night, many opted to run after the shuttle when it passed them, leading to a crowd of students running into traffic — in front of cars and against traffic signals — in order to avoid missing transportation back to campus. This board finds this occurrence concerning and urges the University to better publicize the temporary location change to avoid situations like Saturday night, which are not only inconvenient but also, in some cases, dangerous. 

None of the published Boston/Cambridge Shuttle schedules have been updated to reflect the stop location change to Newbury Street, and this board urges the University to correct this oversight as soon as possible. A single email two weeks ago is not sufficient to inform the student body of the stop location, especially if the University’s own website gives conflicting information. 

At the same time, the University does not deserve all of the blame. Students should be more conscientious about reading their emails, especially those from Public Safety. Beyond that, it should go without saying, but students should not run in front of cars or otherwise cross the street unsafely. Waiting another 30 minutes for the next shuttle may be inconvenient, but safety must be everyone’s top priority.

Moving forward, this board recommends that the University publish maps of the stop locations for all shuttle routes — campus, Waltham and Boston/Cambridge — in order to avoid future confusion and to help new students or those unfamiliar with Brandeis transportation services find the correct spots.