Rider FAQs

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 funded almost entirely by member companies committed to the economic viability of the Route 128 West region and beyond. Our members participate in shared routes, thereby providing a benefit for all who commute in the area. 128BC pools the funds of these companies to provide services that would otherwise be financially out of reach for a single company acting alone. However, it is a manifestation of our core values that the majority of our shuttle services remain open to the general public.

Our drivers check shuttles after each shift for personal items that riders have left behind, and they always let us know if they find anything. If you think that you’ve lost something on one of our vehicles, 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.

128 Business Council shuttle routes are designed to provide commuter service to and from MBTA stations and other hubs in accordance with common daytime work schedules, i.e. toward work in the morning and away from work in the afternoon.

Due to operational logistics*, we cannot guarantee the possibility of ‘reverse-direction travel’ for any of our routes.

While we cannot provide this service on a regular basis, we may, on a case-by-case basis, be able to accommodate reverse direction travel for a single trip on a single day. Please contact us at least one business day in advance for approval and scheduling.

If a reverse-direction trip is approved, the following policies apply: (1) You must pay the standard fare as applicable for your stop and member status. (2) Approval will only be given for a single trip. We cannot accommodate reverse-direction travel for multiple days at a time. (3) You will be instructed to be at the shuttle pick-up point 15-25 minutes in advance of shuttle’s expected arrival. (4) As soon as you arrive at your stop, you must contact Shuttle Dispatch [hyperlink] by phone to confirm your pick-up information. (4) The shuttle may need to make other scheduled stops en route to your destination.

*e.g. necessary routing constraints, shuttles being shared across multiple routes, scheduled breaks for our drivers, etc.

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

Only certified service animals are allowed on 128 Business Council shuttles. We cannot allow pets otherwise, due to potential space constraints and allergy concerns.

An accessible vehicle can always be made available with notice. Contact us at least 24 hours in advance so that we can ensure that one of our accessible (lift-equipped) vehicles is available for your trip.

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

We have a whole section devoted to our Snow Policy.

Only riders who are affiliated with a 128 Business Council member company—either because the member company is the rider’s employer or because the rider’s employer is a tenant of a member company—are eligible to ride on the reduced (member) fare.

If you are affiliated with a 128 Business Council member organization, there are two steps that must occur before you can ride at the reduced (member) rate:

1. First, in most cases, a representative from your member organization must add your name and email address to your organization’s list of approved riders. If you have not received instructions from your organization about how to be approved and do not know who the appropriate contact person is, please email us. We will connect you.
2. Second, you need to create your Tripshot account. Please use the same email address that was added to your organization’s list of approved riders by your member representative—whenever possible, a work email address showing your organization’s domain name.If you’ve already been approved by your member representative and you’ve created your Tripshot account, please allow one full business day for your new reduced (member) fare rates to take effect.

In the meantime, you can use the two free shuttle rides that we provide to all newly-created accounts. You can find the two “contributed free passes” under the Tripshot Wallet “Passes” screen.

As described in the directions above, once you’ve downloaded the Tripshot app, selected “The Grid” as your system, and entered your email address, you should receive an automatically-generated email with the link you need to finish setting up your account.

The email should come from no-reply-at-tripshot-dot-com, and the subject line should read “Signup with Tripshot.” If this email doesn’t appear in your inbox, even after several minutes have elapsed, please check your spam/junk folders.

If you still cannot find the email, even after checking your spam/junk folders, please email us.

If you are affiliated with a 128 Business Council member organization, there are two steps that must occur before you can ride at the reduced (member) rate:

1. First, in most cases, a representative from your member organization must add your name and email address to your organization’s list of approved riders. If you have not received instructions from your organization about how to be approved and do not know who the appropriate contact person is, please email us. We will connect you.
2. Second, you need to create your Tripshot account. Please use the same email address that was added to your organization’s list of approved riders by your member representative—whenever possible, a work email address showing your organization’s domain name.If you’ve already been approved by your member representative and you’ve created your Tripshot account, please allow one full business day for your new reduced (member) fare rates to take effect.

In the meantime, you can use the two free shuttle rides that we provide to all newly-created accounts. You can find the two “contributed free passes” under the Tripshot Wallet “Passes” screen.

Not quite yet!

When you first set up your Tripshot account, you will receive two “contributed free passes” which can be found under the Tripshot Wallet “Passes” screen. Please use these two free rides first.

This is especially important if you qualify for reduced (member) passes thanks to an affiliation with a member organization. Once you have been approved by your organization’s member representative and have created your Tripshot account, please allow one full business day for your new reduced (member) fare rates to take effect. You can use your two free rides in the meantime.

Whenever you pay for multi-ride passes, your purchased passes will appear as “unactivated” under the Tripshot Wallet Passes screen. Likewise, when you first set up your Tripshot account, you will receive two “contributed free passes” which will be listed as “unactivated.” Nothing is wrong!

As soon as you are ready to board using Bluetooth or an onboard QR code, the app will automatically activate a single ticket, which will remain active for one hour.

Active tickets remain active for one hour. You can return to the active ticket screen by selecting “Wallet” from the main menu and then selecting “Tickets.”

Please email us and we will see what we can do. Please note that we cannot refund the cost of trips that have already been taken.

Please email us and we will see what we can do.

No, but we strongly recommend it. Using Tripshot Wallet allows you to pay your fare with the least amount of hassle and at the lowest possible cost since multi-ride passes are only available through the app.

If you qualify for a reduced (member) fare through your employer, worksite, or other organizational affiliation, you can only access this reduced fare by downloading the app and setting up an account that can be verified by your organization.

Plus, the app also allows you to plan your trips, track your shuttle, and set up departure-specific alerts.

Yes, you need to set up an account to use the app.

If you qualify for a reduced (member) fare through your employer, worksite, or other organizational affiliation, we use the email address affiliated with your account to verify your affiliation. Please use the same email address that was added to your organization’s list of approved riders by your member representative—whenever possible, a work email address showing your organization’s domain name.

If you still have paper tickets from our pre-mobile ticketing days, you can use them up. However, no new paper tickets will be issued.

If you really want to pay in cash, you can do so using your shuttle’s farebox. However, you will need to pay the full (non-member) fare and you will need to provide exact change. Shuttle operators do not carry cash, change, or tickets.

REV Bus-Lexington Center fares remains $1.00 per trip for both cash and mobile ticketing. However, again, cash fares must be paid with exact change, and multi-ride passes are only available through Tripshot Wallet.

With the exception of the Vox on Two route, 128 Business Shuttle/The Grid shuttles no longer use physical ID cards or stickers. All member organization affiliations are now tracked through the Tripshot app.

Again, the only exception to this is Vox on Two, which continues to use Vox on Two Shuttle ID cards for boarding.

Yes! The only way to access reduced member fares, including free fares, is by setting up a Tripshot Wallet account—preferably using a work email address—that your member organization can approve.

However, depending upon how your member organization provides the free shuttle rides to you, you may not need to set up a preferred payment method in the app. You should receive further information directly from your member organization about how fare-free boarding will work for your organization’s affiliates.

If you have not heard from your member organization and do not know who the appropriate contact person is, please email us.

If you know that your member organization pays the full cost of shuttle rides, please do not add funds or purchase passes while you are awaiting organizational approval. We provide two free shuttle rides to all newly-created Tripshot accounts, so please use these free rides first. You can find the two “contributed free passes” under the Tripshot Wallet “Passes” screen.

Check the page for your particular shuttle route to see the specific fares and policies for boarding your vehicle. You can find this information under the “Fares & Tickets” tab.

With the exception of the Vox on Two shuttle, all 128 Business Shuttle/The Grid shuttles have been converted to mobile ticketing using the Tripshot rider app. You can find a thorough listing of Tripshot-specific FAQs above.

With the exception of the Vox on Two shuttle, all 128 Business Shuttle/The Grid shuttles are open to the public and require no special ticket or ID to board. However, we do strongly recommend downloading and setting up the Tripshot rider app ahead of time since all of our routes (with the exception of the Vox on Two shuttle) have been converted to mobile ticketing.

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

If you qualify for reduced (member) fares through affiliation with a member organization, you also no longer need a physical ID card or sticker. All member organization affiliations are now tracked through the Tripshot app. Again, the only exception to this is Vox on Two, which continues to use Vox on Two Shuttle ID cards for boarding.

Ask your property manager, facilities manager, or human resources department. (You can also check this list, although you may qualify through your worksite’s developer rather than your employer and thus you should still ask around.) 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. (Currently, this only applies to the Vox on Two shuttle.)

Note that non-member riders must use the shuttle at an established stop. Go to the page for your particular shuttle route to view its stops.

The Needham shuttle connects riders from the Newton Highlands MBTA Station (Green Line D) with the Needham Crossing area.

Waltham Route B connects riders from the Waltham Center Commuter Rail Station to the Winter Street area of Waltham.

Alewife Routes A-North, A-South, B, C & D connect riders from Alewife Station in Cambridge with various business corridors in Waltham and south Lexington.

The REV Bus—Hartwell Area route connects riders from Alewife Station to the Hartwell Avenue corridor in northwest Lexington and Bedford.

The REV Bus—Lexington Center connects riders traveling between Alewife Station and Lexington Center.

Additionally, the Vox on Two shuttle makes an express trip between the Vox on Two apartments and Alewife Station.

We know life happens and sometimes you forget what you need. Don’t worry: You will not be denied a trip.

The driver will ask you to fill out a form with your contact information as part of our Rider Responsibility program. A member of our team will then follow up with you by phone or email to make sure you have everything you need to avoid future mishaps—such as walking you through the creation of a Tripshot account.

We reserve the right to revoke riders’ shuttle privileges if: (1) more than three issues occur within a 30-day period, or (2) you refuse to leave your name and contact information with the driver. That said, we always prefer to help you instead!

128 Business Council is not affiliated with the MBTA. Neither CharlieCards nor MBTA passes are accepted for 128BC/The Grid shuttle travel.

If your organization provides pre-tax commuter benefits for transit travel, you can use those funds for 128 Business Council/The Grid shuttles.

If your organization offers these benefits via a transit benefit debit or credit card, you may use that card as a form of payment for adding funds and/or purchasing passes in the Tripshot app.

If your company only offers commuter benefits via paper check or voucher, please contact us for assistance with redeeming these by mail. Paper checks and vouchers cannot be accepted within the mobile app!