Niche.com ranked Emmanuel College the #1 Best College Location in America out of 16,15 colleges nationwide in 2026 — a distinction earned by its place inside Boston's Longwood Medical and Academic Area, steps from the T, free shuttles, and some of the city's biggest hospitals and employers.
Here's your guide to transportation around and beyond Boston.
MBTA
The MBTA offers many tools to help you plan your commute. You can sign up for direct text updates on your commute, and get information on the Transit app, which helps track trains and busses in real time, and up to the minute information on delays or service interruptions.
For those who have never taken the subway, check out the MBTA’s Beginner’s Guide to the Subway.
Discounted MBTA Passes
Prior to the start of each semester, you will have the opportunity to register for a discounted MBTA pass. When you get a pass through the semester program, you get an 11% fare discount. Your CharlieCard or CharlieTicket arrives loaded with the Semester Pass of your choice, depending on which mode of transit you take the most:
- Semester LinkPass: Unlimited travel on subway and local bus
- Semester Commuter Rail Pass: Unlimited travel on the Commuter Rail (up to the zone distance purchased), plus unlimited subway and local bus trips
For bus and subway passes, you'll get a CharlieCard that is active for the entire semester. For Commuter Rail and ferry passes, you'll get a new CharlieTicket each month. Information on how to sign up will be sent to you via email, so keep an eye out for it toward the tail end of each semester!
For more information on MBTA passes, you can contact osi [at] emmanuel.edu (osi[at]emmanuel[dot]edu).
Access Pass Program
The MBTA Access Pass (TAP) is a program that provides students with disabilities the opportunity to purchase discounted transportation ($30 per month or $10 per week) through the City of Boston. In order to be eligible, a student must provide documentation of their disability, their RIDE ID number, or submit a Health Care Professional Certification (HCPC) form to apply. Check your eligibility and/or apply online here: Access Pass
Charlie Card Pickup Locations
- Star Market- 33 Kilmarnock St, Boston, MA 02215
- 7-Eleven - 722 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115
- 7-Eleven - 141 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA 02115
The RIDE
The RIDE Paratransit service provides door-to-door, shared-ride public transportation to people who can’t use the subway, bus, or trolley, all or some of the time due to temporary or permanent disability. The RIDE is available year-round in 58 cities and towns in the greater Boston area, with similar operating hours to the MBTA — generally from 5 AM to 1 AM daily. Students can learn more about The RIDE at mbta.com
Longwood Medical and Academic Area Shuttles
Emmanuel College is part of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, and as a student, you get access to FREE transportation to and from campus, as well as around Boston. LMA shuttles run on 9 different routes, including pick up from MBTA stations and other COF campuses. All you need is your Emmanuel ID, and you are set to catch a ride!
College Shuttle
The Campus Safety Shuttle operates between Main Campus and the Notre Dame Center Residence Hall on 17 Highland Park Street, Boston. The shuttle operates on the hour and half hour transporting students to and from main campus. The shuttle will also provide transportation to other COF Colleges. Campus Safety vehicles also provide transportation for minor medical matters to local hospitals in the Fenway area.
BlueBikes
Bluebikes is the regional public bike share program owned by Boston, Cambridge, Everett, Somerville, and Brookline. Bluebikes Income-Eligible Membership Application
Zipcar
Use the Emmanuel College link for a discounted membership rate. Cars are available 24/7, 365 days a year — a great option for day trips outside of Boston or any off-campus errands. Use the Zipcar app to locate cars closest to you.
No — most Emmanuel College students get around without one. Emmanuel sits inside the Longwood Medical and Academic Area (LMA) where students can ride free LMA shuttles on nine routes, connecting campus to MBTA stations and other Colleges of the Fenway campuses. In practice, that means most day-to-day trips never require transportation planning at all: they're a walk or a shuttle ride. Students can also enroll in the MBTA's discounted Semester Pass Program for unlimited subway and local bus travel, as well as use Bluebikes and Zipcar for trips that the T and shuttles don't cover.
A car becomes useful mainly for the trips that fall outside that footprint: weekend travel, home visits or errands that are better suited for car than transit.
They both serve a different purpose, and most students end up using both as well. The LMA shuttle is free, requires no fare or app (just an Emmanuel ID), and only serves the Longwood Medical and Academic Area and its immediate MBTA connections and Colleges of the Fenway campuses — built for short hops within that footprint, not citywide travel.
The MBTA, with a discounted student semester pass, covers everywhere else: downtown, other neighborhoods, the airport, and other connections outside Boston entirely.
Students should sign up for their past before the upcoming semester, not during it. Emmanuel students register for the MBTA's Semester Pass Program each term, and the sign-up email goes out near the end of the prior semester — so a student who waits until classes start has usually already missed that term's enrollment window for the 11% discount.
The pass loads onto a CharlieCard for bus and subway, or arrives as a new CharlieTicket each month for Commuter Rail and ferry.
Only a small number of Boston-area colleges sit directly inside the Longwood Medical and Academic Area rather than near it — Emmanuel College is one of them. That distinction matters for daily transportation: a college positioned inside the LMA typically has access to the free LMA shuttle network and walking access to the hospitals and research institutions anchoring the district.
Emmanuel College students with disabilities can apply for the MBTA's Access Pass (TAP) — $30 a month or $10 a week — with documentation of a disability, a RIDE ID number, or a completed HCPC form. Students needing door-to-door service can use The RIDE, the MBTA's paratransit service, operating in 58 cities and towns around Boston on hours similar to the rest of the MBTA system.