I found the best solution to the parking problems students are facing at Umass Boston: TAKE THE T! Thanks to my Accounting-major boyfriend, I’ve begun to look at things based on cost vs. benefit. Look at it this way: a round-trip on the T (including bus and subway) will cost roughly $4 max. Come everyday to school, your looking at about $20 a week, over the course of a semester, about $320 (provided you come everyday, for 16 weeks, which includes your finals, and don’t buy a monthly pass). At $6 a day, you are going to pay about $480 to park on Campus (provided you can find a spot). Sure, you can buy a Semester pass, but the cost of that is still going to be about $25 more than the T. Plus, it’s said that the average student (not living at Harbor Point, obviously!) lives an average of 10 miles from Campus. Provided your one of the lucky ones living within that 10 miles, given the gas prices these days, a 25 mpg vehicle will run you a little under $4.00 in gas per day. Now, your “convenient” method of driving to school, considering parking costs and fuel costs (not to mention traffic!) will run you up to $800 over the course of the semester. Sure, the MBTA can be (very) unreliable and crowded, the stations may smell like urine, and you’ll likely be smooshed between a fat, sweaty businessman and a screaming child. I’ll hold my nose and crank up my ipod, because saving over $400 a month (and the environment!) makes taking the train the best choice for me. Well, and the fact that I don’t have a car.