Trains, taxis and buses – oh my!
Figuring out how to travel through a new city can be hard, so here’s a list of the best (and worst) ways for incoming freshman to get around the city, according to current and past Boston University students.
Best Value: The T and 57 buses
Public transportation is the number one mode of transportation for Boston residents and visitors, according to Lydia Rivera, the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority spokesman.
“Using the system is easy with the tap of a Charlie Card,” Rivera said.
Students can purchase Charlie Cards at fare vending machines in T stations like Kenmore, T sales offices and online, according to the MBTA Website. An added perk: the card can be re-loaded online, eliminating the need to re-load them at a station.
Kate Scott , a College of Communication sophomore, recommends purchasing an MBTA Semester Pass to pay for trips up and down campus.
“I like to just be able to hop on a bus or T if I see it coming and not have to worry about if I have money on my Charlie Card or not,” Scott said.
The Semester Pass is a discounted Charlie Ticket made available to students through the Student Link before each semester. For $210, students can purchase a Link-Pass for unlimited rides on busses and trains.
The cost breakdown proves beneficial – at $60 per month, riding the bus or train at least once, one way, daily, the pass pays for itself.
The 57 bus , with stops running the length of the BU Charles River Campus along Commonwealth Ave. from Kenmore to Watertown, is the most convenient means of transportation, Scott said.
Bus fares cost $1.50 for students who pay with cash and $1.25 for Charlie Card users.
Like the 57 bus, the T’s B train has multiple stops along the BU campus on the Green line.
All T stops along campus are above ground, improving accessibility — students can easily see approaching trains and hop on at the closest stop.
The T is the best way to get around campus, said School of Management sophomore Julie Rickey[C6] , because it’s efficient and, at $2.00 per fare — $1.70 with the Charlie Card — cheap.
“The T is not complicated, and it is very easy to learn,” Rickey said. “If students feel that they will be using the T a lot, the semester pass or the monthly pass will probably be the cheapest way for students to get around.”
A major down-side to MBTA transit like the 57 bus or the T is service’s shut-down time of 1 a.m. Good luck catching the 57 buses or T train back to Warren Towers from Allston or Cambridge any time after midnight.
Another downfall is that the B line is one of the most crowded lines in the T system, according to Rivera, with over 200,000 passengers on any given weekday.
Cheapest: The BU Bus
Another popular transit option is the Boston University Shuttle – or BUS – which runs through the Charles River and Medical Campuses.
Because riding the BUS is free for BU students, Katie Stack, a 2014 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, said it is the cheapest and most practical form of transportation on campus and the best option for late-night on-campus transport.
“I’d often catch it at later hours after studying in the library,” Stack said. “I didn’t always love the idea of walking back to StuVi later at night by myself, so I’d try to catch the bus. It’s easier to catch it now with the different online tracking options.”
Online tracking options can be found at www.bu.edu/thebus, where riders can track the bus along its route on their phones.
“The information provided there will make it much easier to plan the use of the shuttle service,” said Colin Riley, a university spokesman. “Later this fall, we hope to provide riders with estimate arrival times so they will know when the next bus will arrive at their location.”
The BUS’ arrival time during class hours, however, is inconsistent.
“I didn’t usually take the bus to or from class during crazy class hours because it was always so crowded,” Stack said. “And if you were rushing to your next class it was hard to count on it to be on time.”
Most convenient: Taxis
Sometimes, waiting is terrible. Or it is freezing and the last train just pulled away at 1 a.m. – this is the time to take a taxi.
They are handy for late night IHOP urges and getting across campus in a pinch – just be prepared to pay and have cash in case the driver does not take credit cards.
“Cabs are really convenient,” Scott said. “But the cost adds up really quickly so it’s just easier to walk if the T has stopped running.”
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