<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I will be working at Harvard this summer and plan on living with my uncle, who lives about 20-30 minutes to the north. I'm wondering what the best option is on how to get there. I was originally planning on commuting by car, but the parking and traffic situation has me a bit worried. I was looking around the MBTA website, and it seems that the subway does not reach far north enough, and the bus is really slow.</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I live about 30 minutes to the north of Harvard. What city are we talking about? Most of them are somewhat accessible by Commuter Rail.</p>
<p>I’ve considered the commuter rail, but I’m wondering if that’s the best option in terms of cost and commute time.</p>
<p>The commuter rail is invariably cheaper than parking lots in Cambridge, and you can’t always count on getting a meter space. (Read: you won’t get one.) When you factor in fuel costs, it’s a no-brainer.</p>
<p>There are also month passes and things like that so you don’t have to pay the ~$6-7 each way every day.</p>
<p>What about getting a parking permit at Harvard? Do they offer summer students parking, and would you know how much it would cost?</p>
<p>If you still prefer to much of the way drive you could drive in and park at the Alewife station and ride the T to Harvard.</p>
<p>I see that employees can get reduced rate monthly passes for the T. Can I get that as a summer student?</p>
<p>^ I doubt it. I don’t think temporary workers qualify for any type of employee benefit, whether they’re full-time or part-time employees (it’s likely a union thing). I know that as a part-time temp for Harvard, I get no such benefit, but that might just be because I’m part-time.</p>
<p>Your best option, given your (unfortunate) preference for driving, is to park at Alewife and take the T one stop to Harvard.</p>
<p>^Alewife to Harvard is like four-five stops.</p>
<p>It’s impossible to answer without knowing what town your uncle is in. Feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>Most of Cambridge is resident only parking. There is a very affordable parking garage in Central Square, on Green Street, which is a 10 minute walk from Harvard or one subway stop.</p>
<p>No preference for driving, I just want to make sure I’m finding the best overall option.</p>
<p>I looked at the MBTA map, and it seems like by taking the Haverhill line train I can get to Harvard in 1 hour-1.25 hours for the cost of a train ride and taking the T. Does this sound about right?</p>
<p>@summerstudent10 - That sounds about right - hard to tell without knowing where exactly you’ll be living. Getting from North Station to Harvard Square is a bit of a pain - you’ll need to change subway lines once.</p>