As an amenity for tenants and an appeal for prospective tenants, The Ashforth Company began offering a free shuttle service from its 3001 Stamford Square and 707 Summer Street properties to the Stamford Transportation Center in 2011. “Ashforth Express” operates for a three-hour period of time for both morning and evening commuters.
Overall the service has been very successful and ridership has increased 125% since inception. In 2014, a second shuttle was added and this May one of its 24-passenger capacity shuttles was replaced with a 36-passenger one.
Currently the average daily ridership is approximately 70 people which results in the removal of 140 car trips during daily peak commuting hours. Ashforth has also been able to offer consolidated shuttle service to two of its third-party managed buildings on Summer Street, thereby reducing the number of shuttles servicing the Stamford Transportation Center.
Schedules are visibly displayed in the building’s main lobby and in the elevator vestibules. For convenience, business cards featuring the schedule are available for tenants to keep. Each tenant has an identification sticker on their building access pass that allows them access onto an Ashforth Express shuttle.
David Marks, Vice President, Heather Evans, Assistant Property Manager, and Lynnanne Hourihan, Senior Portfolio Administrator, of Ashforth’s property management division, coordinate and oversee the shuttle program.