Commute With Confidence

Commute With Confidence

Commute With Confidence

Reduce the stress of your commute with our supplemental transportation services. This program is designed to support you when an emergency arises however you travel.

Guaranteed Ride Home

The Guaranteed Ride Home Program supports Harvard green commuters with a free ride if an unexpected emergency arises

Who Is Eligible?

  • Full-time benefits-eligible employees and postdocs paid directly by Harvard who walk, bike, take transit, carpool, or vanpool to work
  • Harvard Longwood employees should use the Longwood Collective Emergency Ride Home Program

Trip Allowance

  • Individuals can submit up to four (4) reimbursement requests per calendar year
  • Reimbursements are capped at $100 per trip
  • Tips are not reimbursable

Qualified Emergencies

  • Unexpected personal illness/emergency
  • Unexpected family illness/emergency
  • Carpool or vanpool leaves due to an illness/emergency
  • Unexpected mandatory overtime

Not Qualified Emergencies

  • Rides to work
  • Personal errands or pre-planned -appointments
  • Scheduled overtime
  • Weather-related events
  • Transit system delays/closures
  • Vehicle failure (see MAP below)

Acceptable Destinations

  • Home
  • Park & Ride lot or transit station where vehicle is parked
  • Child's school or daycare
  • Medical facility
  • Interim stops are accepted if they are part of the emergency (e.g. child's school then home)

How To Get Home

  • Taxi/Ride Hail - typically the quickest and most convenient option
  • Transit - if timely service is provided between origin/destination
  • Co-worker/friend - get a ride from an individual and they will be reimbursed for the mileage at the federal mileage rate
  • Rental Car - if the trip is more than 20 miles and time allows for rental process
  • Zipcar - reserve a Zipcar and return it to the originating location the following day

Steps To Follow If An Emergency Arises

  1. Arrange for emergency transportation beginning at your workplace (HLC employees should follow these steps).
  2. Take the trip and pay for the emergency ride - make sure to save the receipt
  3. Submit for reimbursement within 30 days of the trip
    1. Transit, biking, and walking trips can submit their trip at http://www.commuterchoice.harvard.edu/mbta using these steps.
    2. Carpoolers can submit their trip here. 
  4. Your check will be processed and mailed within 4-6 weeks of reimbursement submission

The University reserves the right to cancel or deny reimbursement claims or confirm emergency trip with your supervisor with or without cause at any time.

 

Bicycle Roadside Assistance

The Bicycle Roadside Assistance program supports Harvard bike commuters with roadside assistance if an emergency arises.

Who Is Eligible?

  • Full-time benefits-eligible Harvard faculty and staff bike commuters in Cambridge and Allston.
  • Faculty and staff on the Longwood campus and Graduate Student Workers are not eligible.

Service Allowance

  • The service is available Monday-Friday from 7AM – 7PM by texting 857.847.6366
  • Free of charge for emergency maintenance

Qualified Services

  • Quick fixes to get your bike back on the road, such as:
    • Flat tires
    • Chain issues
    • Braking issues
    • Anything keeping you from getting home safely

Not Qualified Services

  • Non-emergency maintenance and upkeep
  • If your bike needs new parts (e.g., a new tire, chain, brake pads, etc.), you can choose to pay NEMO separately for those parts
  • The above expenses are eligible for reimbursement through the bike benefit program

Service Area

  • Bicycle commuters who experience mechanical issues on their commute to or from campus, whether on campus or within the NEMO service area.

How To Get Home

  • If your bike is unrepairable, you may use the GRH program to commute home.

 

Motorized Assistance Program

The Motorized Assistance Program (MAP) supports any vehicle parked on campus with roadside assistance if an emergency arises.

Who Is Eligible?

  • All faculty, staff, students and visitors who are parked on campus

Service Allowance

  • The service is available 24 hours, 7 days a week (including holidays), by calling 617-496-HELP (4357).
  • Free of charge for emergency services

Qualified Services

  • Change a flat tire
  • Charge a dead battery
  • Locked out of the car
  • Ran out of gas

Not Qualified Services

  • Tow services

 

 

Service Area

  • Vehicle must be parked in a Cambridge/Allston Harvard parking facility.

Process

  • When an approved mechanic is dispatched to your location, you will be responsible for meeting them at the parking facility and bringing them to your vehicle.