Two weeks ago, I wrote an article about the harrowing process of cross-registering for classes at schools within the Greater Boston Consortium from Brandeis. I’ve actually been attending Boston University on the side for around two months now, but there still are a number of things that’ll stick in my head whenever I’m moving about, to, from, etc. the place. One of these is the matter of transportation.

Among a number of other former cross-registrants with whom I’ve interacted, transportation to and from these auxiliary schools is arguably the most bothersome aspect of the whole endeavor. I’ve heard of a number of methods by which students are able to get to their respective cross-registered classes, namely cabs, buses, trains and personal vehicles, but I’m only able to speak of the latter two means of locomotion, since they’re the only ones that I’ve actually taken advantage of.

Overall, I have to say my experience has been a little clunky. I generally use the train system to enter and navigate the city of Boston proper, and some nights I’m lucky enough to be picked up and directly shuttled to Brandeis by a friend in the city or my dad. Going by train is, though, pretty expensive. It takes $6.75 to take the Commuter Rail out of the North Station, while a ride on the T is $2.25. I need to pay once for each of these services each time I want to get to or leave Boston University. Consequently, it costs $18 for a round trip from Brandeis, to BU, and back to Brandeis, or $9 when I’m extended the courtesy of a car ride.

Including the money I save sometimes carpooling, I’m spending approximately $350 bobbing between this school and the other. Granted, it’s cheaper than buying both Brandeis and BU’s university parking permits and driving oneself (more on that later) or taking cabs (I lack the funds), but I can’t help but wish there were a more direct, cost-effective means by which I could get to the school. An alternative some people might be able to take advantage of is the Brandeis shuttle that goes to Riverside, but unfortunately that vehicle’s schedule doesn’t happen to coincide with mine.

Another thing that might deter some people from using the train system is that it seems to have a lot of mechanical problems. For example, the Commuter Rail was late by 40 minutes last Tuesday due to rail complications. Another time it couldn’t leave North Station because a bridge it had to pass wasn’t going up, and occasionally doors on the T trains just won’t open. Though it’s never really affected me too badly—I typically give myself two hours grace to make the approximately one hour commute—I can imagine the sheer havoc-wreaking potential these technical difficulties might have on schedules stricter than mine.

However, I still believe it’s better than commuting by car. Granted, I’ve also commuted this way a few times on the charitable whims of a few of kind souls I’m familiar with because I grew up here. I have to say it is pretty scary to drive in the city a lot of the time, since it seems as though the frequency of people doing dangerous stuff like sticking the noses of their cars into the middle of the road and double-parking in the middle of the street seems to be especially high in the city. The roads are also a bit bendy and turny in some places and uncomfortably narrow in others.

It’s also, as one might expect, relatively smoother driving around the city at night after rush hour. That usually takes around 15 to 20 minutes. However, getting into the city in the
morning is a bit tougher, due to the simple fact that cities have a ton of traffic when people are getting to work. I got to class once by this method and—despite the fact that I got there on time, albeit with around 30 of my allotted 120 minutes to spare—I ultimately resolved to keep from doing it regularly because the stretch of road between here and BU would be, admittedly, too intimidating for me to regularly traverse even if it could reliably save me more time or cost me less money. Instead, the combined cost of Brandeis and BU’s parking permits and gas would cost at least a hundred dollars more and also add the heroic risk of killing oneself if one were to nod off at the wheel thanks to University-induced Fatigue.

So in summary, transportation from Brandeis to Boston University is a bit inconvenient, or at least it is when one takes the train or car. And of those two options, the train seems to actually be a little more reliable, even with all its imperfections.