One More Thing Harvard Postdocs Can't Have

OK I live 30min away from the Longwood Medical Center by foot. Most days I walk to and from work but on rainy/blizzard days I take the M2 Shuttle, a free service provided by Harvard to ship people between the Medical Campus here at Longwood and the Main Campus in Cambridge. It's dependable and well used.

Now to save a couple of bucks, they're going to charge postdocs 2$ a ride. That's more than the cost of a T fare (T=subway in Boston)!

Why?

Doesn't Harvard want to help us get to work and be efficient? No way. After all, it's OK to crap on postdocs.

And to make matters worse it's not all postdocs that are affected ... only those not directly payed through Harvard. So if your boss is HHMI and you happen to be payed through HHMI now you can't take the shuttle. This does not make any sense (for the record I have a fellowship that is administered by Harvard and thus am technically Harvard staff and thus will not be affected). If you are a Postdoc at the Harvard Medical Campus, sign the petition.

Here's the email I got:

If you are not yet aware, Harvard University has informed all the affiliates that effective October 1, 2006, non-Harvard University employees, even those who are employed by Harvard affiliated institutions and have Harvard IDs, will no longer be able to ride the MASCO-operated M2 shuttle free of charge. Harvard decided it would no longer provide this service for its affiliates, and asked the affiliates to bear the burden of ridership costs. It has yet to be explained where the savings for Harvard will be unless the number of shuttles, therefore shuttle frequency, is decreased due to a loss of ridership by the affiliates. Also, it is not clear whether "Quad" based HMS postdocs who are paid by other means (such as HHMI) will be able to continue to ride the shuttle for free. Additionally, Quad and Cambridge based labs that have ongoing collaborations with affiliates will likely be impacted (their collaborators will be forced to seek out less efficient means of transportation and will have to bear part if not all the costs of ridership). This decision clearly will affect the entire HMS community. The affiliated institutions are in the process of forming policies in response to this announcement, and below is the information that has been passed along thus far.

Children's has posted their policy on their website http://www.childrenshospital.org/cfapps/research/data_adm= in/Site1002/mainpageS1002P6sublevel9.html

BIDMC announced their policy last week: All non-Harvard University employees will be required to pay for the shuttle ($2.30/ride as of 10/1/06) via tickets or a Crimson Cash card (available through Harvard University). BIDMC employees who ride the shuttle as part of their commute to work are eligible for subsidized tickets (45% subsidy up to a maximum monthly transportation subsidy of $105).

Brigham and Women's is in the process of making a decision.

The HMS PostDoc Association is submitting an online petition to illustrate to the Harvard administration the importance of free, convenient shuttles in keeping an interactive, productive and collaborative research community (after all, the hospital shuttles are free to ALL members of the HMS community). These shuttles are not only used for commuting, but are essential for work on collaborative projects and attendance at workshops and seminars.

It is imperative to let the Harvard administration know the importance of free M2 shuttle access for the entire HMS community by signing the following online petition by September 1, 2006:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/M2Shuttle/

You may check a box to remain anonymous (you should uncheck the other box in order to not receive information about other petitions). There is also a section for comments. Take this opportunity to voice your opinion by September 1, 2006, even if this change does not immediately impact your daily life. The petition will be forwarded to many members of the Harvard administration.

Please forward this to all members of the community, especially faculty who are largely unaware of this decision. They will likely be very concerned about the implications for their labs for both recruiting and day to day operations.

Although this petition was brought forward by members of the HMS PDA, everyone is strongly urged to sign by Sepember 1, 2006!

Note: At the end of the iPetition there is a message for donations - the petition is free, you do not have to donate money.