Road Rabbit Express beats Peter Pan out of the water
By: Sonali Lappin
Issue date: 2/11/10 Section: Opinion
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“In terms of our identity, we wanted to be a somewhat green business,” says Matt Hnatio, the owner of Road Rabbit. “But what we’re also trying to do is offer a more intimate setting where people can meet each other and interact in a friendly way. With smaller vehicles, people are going to be less likely to misbehave and more inclined to socialize.”
Many Mount Holyoke students have complained about the insufficient service the Peter Pan Bus service provides and how expensive it is. Some people feel stuck, as they have no car and no friends to take them into Boston. The only thing they are able to rely on is a semi-functional service that offers little comfort, especially for those leaving or returning from home, long trips or brief agendas based in the Cambridge or Boston area. “The schedule is very limited and they don’t update their schedules online. Once I was at South Station and they told me there was no 4 p.m. bus, although it was listed online,” comments Unika Shrestha ’10.
It is fairly obvious that for a ridiculous $28 few people desire to be passengers on a Peter Pan bus that has hard seats, people constantly talking on cell phones, no free Wi-Fi most of the time, no outlets for charging electronic devices (which seem especially necessary on a three hour ride) and bus drivers who are rarely friendly, sometimes who multitask while driving. According to an article in The Boston Globe dated May 9 2009, a passenger filming a Peter Pan bus driver noticed that he was “…folding and tearing tickets, [with] both hands off the wheel and eyes apparently not aimed at the road [as well as] a cell phone call, even as the driver maintained highway speeds alongside tractor-trailers.” Furthermore, international student Anum Shahid ’10 said, “It takes forever; it’s very slow. I’m a senior and I’ve been taking those buses for four years.” The bus at least offers bathrooms, which she says are “very clean.”