A Modest Proposal: Banish Student Cars

Cambridge City Councillor Alfred E. Vellucci has called on Harvard and Radcliffe to ban students from having cars in Cambridge.

In an order passed by the City Council, Vellucci told the colleges that the critical Harvard Square traffic problem -- and the added traffic threat of the Kennedy Library -- necessitates the end of student cars.

[Although Harvard has tried to discourage students from keeping cars here, it has always resisted simply banning them.]

His order would have Harvard prohibit undergraduate motorcycles, motor scooters, and moterbikes in addition to cars.

He was joined in support by Councillor Walter J. Sullivan. "I'd like to congratulate Councillor Vellucci," Sullivan told the Council, "It's a very good order."

In the order, Vellucci points out that "many leading colleges throughout the country" already ban undergraduate autos.