Many Roads To New Haven

Harvard students will descend upon Yale for the Harvard-Yale football game in a number of ways this weekend—by shuttle, by car, and even by stretch Cadillac Escalade.

As of yesterday evening, all 1,620 seats on the fleet of 30 buses organized by the Undergraduate Council (UC) had been sold, according to Nick E. Huber ’09, vice-chair of the UC’s Campus Life Committee.

Huber said the buses had sold out more quickly than they did for the Yale game two years ago, even though there were 100 more seats.

“It’s impressive. It’s about a fourth of the school,” he said.

He said the council had wanted to increase capacity further but, since the buses are subsidized by the UC, “the current budget we have wouldn’t allow that.”

Undergraduates aren’t the only Harvard students headed to the game: about 100 people will be on buses organized by HLCentral, an organization for Harvard Law School (HLS) students, and the law school social organization Lincoln’s Inn.

Tickets for those buses, now sold out, cost $10 and included round-trip transportation on Saturday, hamburgers, hot dogs, and “lots of beer,” according to Clark C. Severson, director for excursions for HLCentral.

An email advertising the shuttle promised “the closest you’ll get to the college football experience while you’re at HLS.”

For those who still haven’t found transportation, options include renting a car or taking the train or a Greyhound bus to New Haven.

As of yesterday, a two-day rental of an SUV from Enterprise Rent-a-Car for a round trip to New Haven cost approximately $285, including gas.

On Amtrak’s website yesterday, prices for a round-trip ticket from South Station to New Haven averaged $90-$116. That’s more expensive than the bus—a round-trip ticket on Greyhound will cost about $62—but the trip on Amtrak can be shorter by two hours or more.

Some students plan simply to drive themselves. Cassie L. Fliegel ’06, a native of Cambridge, said she’s taking a group of her friends to the game in her dad’s Ford Explorer.

Fliegel said that the advantages of driving included a flexible schedule, the space to store tailgating supplies, and the opportunity to “crank up the radio and sing the whole way to Yale.”

One disadvantage to driving: “I don’t know how to get there,” said Fliegel. She said she plans to check MapQuest and ask her dad for directions before leaving on Friday.

Finally, some students’ transportation to Yale may be more noticeable than others. A group of about 16 students from Quincy and Currier Houses have rented a Cadillac Escalade limousine to take them to the game.

The chauffeured vehicle “should be a fun time for my friends and I,” said Erica S. Birmingham ’06, one of the group.

“We felt it’d be a good way to get to the game without the burden of taking our own cars,” she said.