HUA Proposes Free MBTA Pass Program for Undergraduates

The Harvard Undergraduate Association is exploring a program that would give students free MBTA passes, HUA Residential Life Officer Isabelle G. Agarwal ’28 announced at a Sunday meeting.

Agarwal, who is spearheading the effort, said she plans to release a poll Monday gauging students’ MBTA ridership to assess demand for the service.

If the data show sufficient interest, Agarwal said she hopes to launch a pilot program during the next school year that would provide approximately 500 Harvard students with free passes and track their usage. In the second year, she said, the program could expand to the full undergraduate population.

“What we need right now is ridership data,” Agarwal said at the meeting.

Gathering evidence of demand was a primary condition set by the MBTA before the program could move forward, according to Agarwal. She and previous HUA residential life officers have been in talks with the MBTA and University administrators about the initiative since last year.

The MBTA has already collected data from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, which provides eligible students with 50 percent reimbursement for MBTA semester passes. Agarwal said the HUA plans to use that data to help assess the feasibility of an undergraduate program, though she acknowledged the graduate student figures are not “the most representative” of undergraduate ridership patterns.

Agarwal said she sees strong demand among students who already commute to MIT for cross-registered courses or travel off campus for work.

“There’s a good amount of population that already goes to MIT for classes and that use the MBTA. There’s a good population that might work off campus,” she said. “We do want to encourage, if we can, students going out into Boston, but the primary source that we’re looking for is for internships, jobs, healthcare appointments, classes, etc.”

She also cited a gap in coverage by Harvard shuttle services that are more easily accessible by the MBTA.

“Tthere’s some locations that are easier to access by the MBTA than by any of our shuttle systems,” Agarwal said.

MBTA subway tickets typically cost $4.80 roundtrip, while bus tickets cost $3.40 roundtrip. If Harvard were to fund the program, the money would come from the College’s increased Student Activities fee, Agarwal said.

Several schools in the area provide transportation subsidies to undergraduates. MIT provides undergraduate students with 50 percent discounted MBTA tickets and Tufts gives its Boston students a 35 percent discount. Schools like Boston University, Boston College, Berklee College of Music, and Northeastern do not offer more than an 11 percent subsidy.

Still, Agarwal cautioned that the effort remains in its early stages.

“We’re very much in the early steps,” she said. “There’s no promise of free MBTA passes. We’re just sort of looking into whether or not it would be good for the school to have, and whether or not we think it’s feasible based on the ridership.”

—Staff writer Alma T. Barak can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at almabk.54. Follow her on X @almabk_.

—Staff writer Theresa F. Bartelme can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at theresabartelme.15. Follow her on X @theresabartelme.