Student Transportation Center installs e-paper displays at campus parking lots

By Julien Fernandez Staff Writer Framingham State has installed new solar-powered Papercast displays at each of the campus parking lots in an effort to make requesting a bus ride easier for students, said Director of Transportation Kim Galvani. Galvani said she is working closely with the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) on this project, which was afforded to FSU through a grant from the University’s campus sustainability initiative. Galvani said the cost of the installation was $40,735.24. These displays were installed at Maple Athletic, Maple Commuter, Union, Bement and Salem End lots. She said the displays were purchased from Papercast and installed by Sunshine Signs. “I was looking for a more efficient way to communicate with the students. Now, we get a lot of phone calls,” she said. “We have been short-staffed for quite a few years, so with having fewer students working, I don’t always have somebody to answer the phone at the dispatch desk.” These signs will eliminate the need for students seeking a ride to call the transportation desk. Now, students will be able to press a button to request a ride. “I was looking for a way to improve our service and make it a little easier for students to get the shuttle,” Galvani said. The e-paper displays are part of a multi-phase rollout of features, Galvani said. The first phase included the installation of solar panels and the displays showing the campus bus schedule, which has been completed, she said. Galvani said the second phase is for students to request a bus ride during STC’s dispatch hours, from 6 p.m. to 11:45 p.m., via a button on the display. She added the request from the display will send a signal to a tablet inside the shuttles assigned to that parking lot, and to the dispatch desk, of when and where the request was made. The last phase is for the display to audibly announce when the next shuttle will arrive, she said. “We currently have a tracker for the shuttles. … On the FSUGo app, if you login, you can track where the shuttles are,” and this tracking system would function with the e-paper displays, she said. “It’s getting there. There are a lot of moving parts to get it to work efficiently and properly, because it's a new technology for us,” Galvani said. “All our schedules are on the FSUGo app,” Galvani added. She said the MWRTA would also have an e-paper display at their stop on-campus in front of the McCarthy Center, “which anyone can use for free right now.” Galvani said last semester, the MWRTA installed dashboard cameras on all the buses “for safety purposes.” “I want to always improve our service, right? So, [we’re] adding this Papercast and hoping it’s going to help that. I really want to make sure we get people safely and efficiently to their destinations,” Galvani said. Galvani said the requirements for working at STC are being a full-time student, having your license for 2 years, being able to pass the Department of Transportation Physical and Drug Test provided by the University, and having a clean driving record. She added students are then interviewed and eventually employed, undergoing 4 hours of training, working a minimum of 12 hours a week, showing up to safety meetings once a month, and being subject to random drug tests every quarter. Students will also be expected to work weekly as both bus drivers for a minimum of 8 hours and at the STC dispatch desk at the entrance of the McCarthy Center for a minimum of 4 hours. She said working at STC, students gain valuable work experience to add to their resumes, build strong connections with their coworkers, and receive bi-weekly payment for $17 an hour. Galvani added students can choose their working hours according to their schedules. If students choose to stay working at STC long enough to become a manager, they can expect to make $19 an hour. Galvani said due to monthly drug tests and students operating in a safety-sensitive position, she likes to offer students as much as STC’s budget will allow. Galvani said she’d love to hire more students, but has found scheduling to be the biggest conflict. “I’m a mom, and employing students brings me a lot of joy. Especially if they start as freshmen and I see them grow from coming into the interview kind of shy. … Watching them figure out how to navigate and make connections at this job has been really fulfilling for me,” Galvani said. She added employees are most needed on weekends. “We try to prevent accidents with training, but yes, we have had accidents over the years. We’ve had minor ones to a couple major accidents,” Galvani said. “Some have been our fault, some have been other drivers’ faults, so it just varies. Knock on wood,” Galvani said. She said in the event of a crash, the driver will leave the bus where it is and radio the dispatch desk employees, who then reach out to Galvani and campus police to take care of the situation. “Depending on the situation, we exchange information and take it from there, and then if the vehicle needs to be towed, it gets towed, if it’s driveable, it gets driven,” Galvani said. Galvani added, “There is always follow-up. If it’s [our] driver’s fault, we do some retraining to help them prevent or see, ‘How could we prevent this from happening?’” “The shuttle can take a lot. … We’ve had somebody not yield the right-of-way and hit our shuttle - very little damage,” she said. Robert Perruzzi, a junior, said, “Eliminating the need to call the desk will be super convenient for STC. I know one of the managers, and he is frequently answering overdue calls that get transferred to him. As long as STC is properly staffed, they will definitely continue to do great work!” Faith Blaisdell, a sophomore, said, “I'm a very shy person and struggle especially with making phone calls, which is half of the reason I haven't tried to take the bus before.” She added, “I think being able to call from the stop without a phone is super important, as it broadens accessibility to more students, especially in tough scenarios where someone might not be able to make a call at the moment.” Brian Rmsis, a senior, said, “I definitely think that’ll make it more convenient.” Asyria Antoine, a junior, said, “All in all, I love the Ram Tram. I love how it helps those who don’t have a car on campus not feel strictly stuck on campus, and they can use it to save money to get to and from work. “However, I strongly believe the Ram Tram can be more communicative on when and why they can’t run certain routes or departures, as I’m not the only one who’s found some frustration when a certain route doesn’t come on time, or at all, and I wasted time waiting for a Ram Tram that never arrived,” she said. Vincent Gauthier, a sophomore, said, “I think that the Papercast displays could be very useful for helping STC work better. More importantly, I think they need better desk shift coverage. “I’ve worked at STC before, and without a person at the desk it’s very difficult to be on time to places because I can’t check my phone while I’m driving, so when managers text to inform me that someone called, I never saw those until I parked.” Quincy Leary, a junior who works for STC, said, “I think it's a really cool idea. It helps the drivers and students know if someone's at the bus stop or if a bus is on its way, so they don’t have to keep calling and wondering where the bus is - especially if they update the location tracking on the buses.”