getting around Western Mass as a student

RoaringMice
Mon, 22 Jul 2019 20:07:28 +0000

I went to UMass without owning a car, and would go over to Northampton and Smith frequently via the free PVTA bus. I also lived in Northampton for a year, and commuted to UMass via the bus. The bus connects the five colleges, and runs frequently enough that I often didn’t even worry about the actual schedule. I’d just go out there and wait.

To get around Northampton itself, you just walk. It’s pretty compact in terms of its downtown. I also mainly used to walk around Amherst, but I’d sometimes take the bus if I was going all the way from UMass to Hampshire College.

To get to NYC or Boston, I’d take the Peter Pan bus from Amherst or catch a ride with someone who did have a car. Amtrack runs a train from Northampton to NYC, and up to Montreal. I never took the train, as the bus was much cheaper.

At UMass at least, many people didn’t bring a car. You have to pay for student parking, and the parking is not near the dorms, so having a car can actually be a bit of a PITA. I understand that first year students can’t bring a car to Smith.