Monorail to Connect Quad to Allston

President Alan Garber announced Monday afternoon that the university would finally implement a more sustainable transportation system to connect all of its campuses.

Garber’s announcement has been long anticipated by many faculty members throughout the university who have, since 2019, advocated for the construction of a monorail to connect Harvard’s Cambridge campus to Allston and Longwood. This new project will also significantly impact the lives of many students, especially those who live in the Radcliffe Quadrangle; the commute from the Quad to the Science and Engineering Complex in Allston is currently several hours long for any students unlucky enough to miss the shuttle.

An existing shuttle system — including service on the university’s main campus, between Lamont Library and Longwood via the M2 shuttle, and a private jet — does provide students and faculty alike with free transportation between the university’s buildings, it is widely regarded as deficient. Students in the Quad have been frustrated by the inconsistency of campus shuttles and unreliability of Passio GO!, the mobile app that purports to provide real-time updates on shuttle locations and timings. Premedical students and researchers working at Longwood have also bemoaned the hourlong commute each way via the M2 shuttle, which also shows up inconsistently.

In response to these issues, many students have requested that the University finance Charlie Cards, Lyft vouchers, and Ferraris to ease transportation difficulties. Harvard has not responded to these requests except to note that students have always been welcome to rent the shuttles for personal use, for the incredibly low price of $2,000 in Crimson Cash.

Regardless, with the development of the new monorail system, students will be able to get to their destination much faster and on a more reliable schedule. Construction is set to begin this summer, with the first phase of the project between Cambridge and Allston set to be completed in 2028. The second phase of the project will link Longwood and Harvard’s main campus.

To finance this project, the Undergraduate House Renewal Program will be paused indefinitely. Students have provided overwhelmingly positive feedback about this development despite the project’s implications for House renovations, even though most will graduate before the monorail is actually built.