Building on its commitment to area planning on behalf of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area (LMA), the Longwood Collective today announced that Jonathan Werner of Everett, MA has been named Senior Transportation Manager for the organization. Werner joins a growing transportation team at the Longwood Collective, which last month named Dorothy Fennell as its new Transportation Planner/Transportation Demand Specialist.

“I am pleased to welcome Jonathan as our Senior Transportation Manager to oversee our robust shuttle system that our world-changing employees in the LMA rely on daily,” said David Sweeney, President and CEO of the Longwood Collective. “He brings a wealth of experience to the role in managing and improving bus operations for large-scale institutions, and I am excited for him to hit the ground running in managing our shuttle system.”

The Longwood Collective is the chief planner and principal steward of the LMA, serving the area’s world-renowned medical, academic, scientific, and cultural institutions, and providing critical transportation, operating, planning, and placemaking services to the area’s benefit. This work includes operating a private fleet of shuttles available to staff and students of member institutions.

As the Senior Transportation Manager, Werner will be responsible for all aspects of the Longwood Collective’s shuttle bus program related to route development, customer service, budgeting, contract management, and contract compliance to ensure desired quality service levels are met. The Longwood Collective shuttle system is a fleet of 37 shuttles that moves more passengers than all but four of the state’s regional transit authorities. The shuttle system is undergoing a mid-life rehabilitation to ensure continual service to the 2.7 million employee rides served per year.

Werner joins the Longwood Collective with extensive experience in the transit field as an operations manager working on both public transit and private bus service, most recently at Harvard University, where he served for eight years as Operations Manager. There he conceptualized and successfully delivered a total bus schedule redesign in collaboration with numerous stakeholders to that led to increased efficiencies, coverage, and user satisfaction. He previously served as a Location Manager and Busing/Safety Manager for Hertz Car Rental at Logan Airport, where he oversaw terminal bus operation and used data-driven processes to improve bus service efficiencies.

“The Longwood Collective shuttle bus system has proven to be a relied upon asset for thousands of employees in the LMA, and I am excited to begin in this new role at its helm,” said Werner. “I look forward to the work ahead to ensure the Longwood Collective shuttle system continues providing a high-quality and valuable service to the member institutions we serve.”

The shuttle system is an integral part of the Longwood Collective’s work to influence “mode shift” —people choosing to use public transit or walk or bike instead of driving—in the LMA. The Longwood Collective recently released its first White Paper that details the success of mode shift in the LMA over the last 30 years, citing that the percentage of people driving to work in the LMA declined from 47% in 2002 to 30% more recently, all while the district added approximately 15,000 jobs and grew by almost seven million square feet. Today, 85% of shuttle riders use the shuttle system to connect to and from public transportation.