Riders

Setting up the App

1. Go to the Apple App Store, search for “Tripshot,” and download the app.
2. After launching the app, click “Choose public system” and then select “The Grid.”
3. For full functionality, create an account—preferably with a work email address. (The video above does not show this step.)
4. After logging in for the first time, “allow” the app to access your location while using the app and “allow” the app to send you notifications.

Planning a Trip

1. Select “Trip Planner” from the app’s menu at the bottom of the screen.
2. Enter your starting location and your destination by touching “Select From…” and “Select To…,” which will bring up a list of stops. For example, if you select “Alewife Station (Depart)” and “1000 Winter St,” the app will show you all of the available departures and projected travel times between these two stops. Note, however, that if you try to select two stops on different routes, the app will tell you that no route could be found.
3. If you aren’t sure how to get where you’re going, you can select “Current Location” as your starting location (or enter a starting address) and then enter the address of your destination. If a route is possible, the app will then show you a trip that includes walking directions to and from the closest 128BC stops.
4. To save a trip, press the heart icon. It will turn red. (You can’t save trips that involve walking directions.)
5. Select the departure you want in order to see a map and schedule.

Creating Notifications

1. Whenever you select a departure, you can press the stopwatch icon to the right the stops to create an automated notification subscription.
2. You can also set up notification subscriptions by selecting “Routes”from the app’s menu at the bottom of the screen, selecting a route, and then selecting a specific time from the timetable.
3. Automated notifications can be set up for late and/or approaching vehicles, and can be limited to a particular date or can be set up for particular days of the week.
4. In order to actually receive any alerts, you need to turn on push notifications. Alternately, if you would like to receive alerts associated with this notification subscription as text messages instead, select “Notify me via text” and enter a valid cell number. Standard text messaging rates apply.
5. To edit or delete a notification subscription later, select “Notifications” from the app’s menu at the bottom of the screen.

Setting up the App

1. Go to Google Play, search for “Tripshot,” and download the app.
2. After launching the app, click “Choose public system” and then select “The Grid.”
3. For full functionality, create an account—preferably with a work email address. (The video above does not show this step.)
4. After logging in for the first time, “allow” the app to access your location while using the app and “allow” the app to send you notifications.

Planning a Trip

1. Select “Trip Planner” from the app’s menu at the bottom of the screen.
2. Enter your starting location and your destination by touching “Select From…” and “Select To…,” which will bring up a list of stops. For example, if you select “Alewife Station (Depart)” and “1000 Winter St,” the app will show you all of the available departures and projected travel times between these two stops. Note, however, that if you try to select two stops on different routes, the app will tell you that no route could be found.
3. If you aren’t sure how to get where you’re going, you can select “Current Location” as your starting location (or enter a starting address) and then enter the address of your destination. If a route is possible, the app will then show you a trip that includes walking directions to and from the closest 128BC stops.
4. To save a trip, press the heart icon. It will turn red. (You can’t save trips that involve walking directions.)
5. Select the departure you want in order to see a map and schedule.

Creating Notifications

1. Whenever you select a departure, you can press the stopwatch icon to the right the stops to create an automated notification subscription.
2. You can also set up notification subscriptions by selecting “Routes”from the app’s menu at the bottom of the screen, selecting a route, and then selecting a specific time from the timetable.
3. Automated notifications can be set up for late and/or approaching vehicles, and can be limited to a particular date or can be set up for particular days of the week.
4. In order to actually receive any alerts, you need to turn on push notifications. Alternately, if you would like to receive alerts associated with this notification subscription as text messages instead, select “Notify me via text” and enter a valid cell number. Standard text messaging rates apply.
5. To edit or delete a notification subscription later, select “Notifications” from the app’s menu at the bottom of the screen.

128 Business Council designs, negotiates and manages the shuttle programs listed on this website, and partners with independent vendors that operate the shuttle vehicles with our oversight. We are a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization.

Read more about our mission and history.

128 Business Council is primarily funded by member companies committed to the economic viability of the Route 128 West region and beyond. If member companies did not financially support our shuttles, they would cease to exist because transportation services cannot operate on fares alone. However, it is a manifestation of our core values that the majority of our shuttle services remain open to the general public.

Shuttle fares range from free to several dollars per ride, depending upon the route and upon whether or not you work or live at a member property. (Member companies help reduce shuttle costs for their affiliated riders by paying a fee to participate in the service.) Check out the page for your particular shuttle route to see the fares for that route’s “member” and “non-member” riders.

You can pay with cash or by buying a 10-ride ticket. (We do NOT offer weekly or monthly tickets.) If you pay with cash, you must use exact change, using bills or coins. Drivers are NOT permitted to make change.

You can purchase 10-ride tickets via PayPal on the page for your particular shuttle route, or on board your vehicle with cash or with a check made out to “128 Business Council.”

Those who live or work at a member property and want to ride one of our shuttles at the “member” rate—or those who need to ride one of our routes that are only open to “member” riders—must obtain a Shuttle ID card and/or sticker from their company’s transportation coordinator or community property manager. If you do not know who this person is, contact us and we will help you.

Check the page for your particular shuttle route to see the specific policies for boarding your vehicle.

Ask your property manager, facilities manager or human resources department; check our current list of members; or contact us.

Yes! As long as the shuttle route is not marked “employees only” or “residents only,” that service is open to the general public. However, you will need to ride the shuttle at the “non-member” rate. (Member companies help reduce shuttle costs for their affiliated riders by paying a fee to participate in the service.) Check the the page for your particular shuttle route to see the “non-member” rate for that route.

Note that non-member riders must get off the shuttle at a member company location. Drivers are not authorized to make unscheduled stops. Again, go to the page for your particular shuttle route to view its authorized stops.

We know life happens and sometimes you forget what you need to board our shuttles. Don’t worry: Even if you do not have a valid Shuttle ID card, 10-ride ticket, or exact change, you will not be denied a trip.

If any of these events occur, board the shuttle and inform the driver of your situation. The driver will ask you to write your name and contact information on a log sheet, and will hand you a “Rider Responsibility” pamphlet which describes follow-up steps. You can then take your seat and complete your trip.

It is 128 Business Council policy that every rider show their Shuttle ID card upon every boarding. This keeps shuttle costs down by preventing fraud, and keeps things moving if there is a substitute driver.

128 Business Council shuttles are not connected to the MBTA in any way. CharlieCards and/or MBTA passes are not accepted on 128 Business Council shuttles.

The page for your particular shuttle route has a Schedule that lists the addresses of that route’s stops; a Service Area Map showing the location of all of those stops; and a map and video of the Station Pickup Location for the MBTA station to which your shuttle route connects.

Don’t panic! Our drivers do their best to check shuttles for personal items that riders have left behind, and they always let us know if they find anything.

 If you know that you’ve lost something, please fill out our Lost & Found form.

We offer a program to member riders called “Emergency Ride Home” (ERH), which provides commuters who use alternative transportation (including those who use our shuttles!) with a guaranteed ride home in the event of an emergency. Learn more about the program here.

Our shuttles are designed to provide commuter service to and from MBTA stations and other hubs in accordance with standard work schedules, i.e. to work in the morning and away from work in the afternoon. Thus, for example, not all shuttles return to an MBTA station after completing their stops in the morning. In some instances, though, we can accommodate these “reverse route” requests on a one-time basis only. Simply contact us and tell us what you need.

In most cases, no. If a time is shown in the P.M. timetable, this indicates that the shuttle will stop every day at that time. Plan to arrive at the pickup point approximately five minutes before departure time.

However, any evening stop marked in the timetable with an asterisk (*) is an on-demand stop, meaning the shuttle will only stop there upon request. Please call your route’s dispatch number by 4:00 P.M. to request pickup at an on-demand stop.

The most up-to-the-minute alerts about weather- or traffic-related delays are communicated via our Rider App. You can also track your shuttle through the App (or use the Shuttle Tracker button located on the page for your particular shuttle route) to project your shuttle’s arrival time

Less time-sensitive notifications are posted in the “Updates & Alerts” box on the page for your particular shuttle route and communicated via email notifications.

Never fear! We have a whole section devoted to our Snow Policy.