Help with the Subway/Boston U. (Cambridge, Arlington: extended stay, hotels, dorm)

[hello2200]

Hi All,
I'm from Houston, so do forgive me!
We're going to be staying at the Homewood Suites in Cambridge/Arlington (Address: 1 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, Massachusetts, 02474, USA)..
What is the easiest commuter way (pref. subway) to get to Boston University? And quickest?
How long would this commute take every day?
Thanks

[MikePRU]

MBTA.com has a great trip planner. Just tell it where you're starting and where you want to go and it will give you the route to take via public transportation. I would say that staying in Cambridge is probably not the most convenient place if you're going to BU. Your best bet is to stay somewhere along the "B" branch of the T's Green Line. Cambridge seems convenient because it's just over the bridge from BU but in reality public transportation routes really don't go in that direction. They all tend to radiate out from the center of the city. So, I wouldn't stay in Cambridge unless you're going to be walking distance to BU and your hotel is on the complete opposite side of Cambridge from BU.

[Boston Shudra]

According to my iphone, the fastest way to get from your location to BU by public transportation is to walk to Alewife (red line station), and take the red line to Central Square. Then take the 47 bus to whatever stop comes after crossing the BU Bridge into Boston, and walk up Comm. Ave.

This route should ideally take around 25-30 minutes (according to my the "maps" app on my phone).

The easiest way would be to take the red line from Alewife to Park Street, then switch to the B branch of the green line and take that to BU. his route requires less walking and less sitting around and waiting for buses, but it's much longer (distance wise) and therefore takes more time.

This route would take around 50 minutes.

And if you were feeling really lazy (or its snowing/raining out and you don't want to be out and about) and you don't feel like walking to Alewife (which is admittedly is a not-very-scenic 15 minutes walk from your hotel) there's a bus (the 77) that stops literally right across the street from your hotel that could take you to Porter Square where you could get the red line to Park Street. Buses don't come as often as subways though, and there liable to get stuck in traffic and street lights.

This might add 10-20 min onto the commute (according to my phone).

*Also the 77 bus going away from Porter Square goes to Alewife. So you could also do that to avoid walking to Alewife.

[professeurpablo]

I saw the other post regarding living at a hotel, and I'm going to put forth another voice suggesting that the Arlington to BU commute would be unpleasant for most, especially a college freshman on his own unfamiliar with the area. Walking to Alewife from there would be a good 15 minutes and involves negotiating some pretty tricky road crossings; just that leg of the trip alone is inadvisable. Once on the train, the trip to Central Square is easy, but you need to line it up with the #47 bus and then get from the drop-off point to the desired destination at BU, which has a somewhat linear campus structure. In other words, the classes your son is taking might not be anywhere near the bus stop!

Another poster suggested the extended stay hotel on Soldiers Field Road. This is much closer to BU but is not in a very pedestrian-friendly spot. I don't want to pry about your son's reason for not wanting to live on campus at all, but I'd say that perhaps he should have a year of dorm life under his belt for social reasons before deciding that it's not for him. During this time, he could assess other living situations and learn the lay of the land here in Boston. I was very nervous about dorm life prior to beginning college, but it ended up being an important formative experience for me personally and socially. An unrequested $0.02 I suppose - sorry!

[BostonAccountant]

Originally Posted by hello2200

Hi All,
I'm from Houston, so do forgive me!
We're going to be staying at the Homewood Suites in Cambridge/Arlington (Address: 1 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, Massachusetts, 02474, USA)..
What is the easiest commuter way (pref. subway) to get to Boston University? And quickest?
How long would this commute take every day?
Thanks

Why are you staying at a hotel in Cambridge, if there is not a qualifying reason, the best advice would be to move to a hotel in Boston. There are a bunch of options in Back Bay that would allow you to be right by a Green line station and catch the trolley straight to BU.

Absent that option, the best advice would be to mapquest your destination ten minutes before leaving, the fastest route will depend on the train and bus schedules.

If you use mapqquest or google maps, and choose the public transportation option they will give you the time of your route based on the trains and buses traveling past your pick-up point at that time. Complete with any current delay warnings

Also note that the red line frequently runs with shut downs between stations almost every weekend due to scheduled construction. Running your requested travel route right before you leave will allow you to follow a route adjusted in real time.

[Cantabridgienne]

That's a really inconvenient location to get to BU via the T. Why did you choose it?

[SpringMom3]

I recommend switching hotels. Itll take you an hr+ to get to bu from there.

[dtopaz]

I agree that the Arlington/Cambridge Homewood is an awful location for getting to/from BU.

That said, I'll disagree with the notion that the walk from the hotel to Alewife is unpleasant: there's an absolutely wonderful bike/pedestrian path that goes directly from the hotel to Alewife station. If in fact you do stay at the Homewood Suites, a bicycle would be very handy. If you can avoid peak travel hours, bikes are allowed on the Red Line; a very reasonable route would be bike to Alewife > Red Line to Central > bike to BU.