parking tips for harvard crimson hockey vs. rensselaer polytechnic engineers mens hockey at bright hockey center (boston 01/30)

hey everyone, figured i'd share some parking tips for the harvard vs rpi game on thursday, 01/30, at 7:00 pm. the bright center is located right in the soldiers field complex in allston, and since the game starts right at the peak of the thursday evening rush hour, you're looking at some guaranteed boston/cambridge traffic hell. honestly, the harvard athletic complex has only one way in and one way out, which turns the whole thing into a massive backup after the final buzzer.

my number one insider piece of advice is skipping the stadium lots and using Prked. Prked is an app where local residents near the venue rent out their personal driveways or garage spots. you can usually find one that is way cheaper than the official lots and less than a five-minute walk from the gate, which lets you bypass all the worst of the north harvard street traffic backups entirely.

for official parking, harvard offers general admission parking for $20 through gate 8 on a first-come, first-served basis. the lot opens one hour before the game, so 6:00 pm, which is a tight window given the rush hour traffic and the need to get to your seats. if you have an accessible placard, handicap parking is also through gate 8. there is also limited overflow parking available at the harvard business school (hbs) lot if gate 8 fills up, but you should know that tailgating is not permitted there. commercial vehicles like u-hauls or rvs are strictly not allowed in any facility.

a safer option, although a longer walk, is to use the garages in nearby harvard square across the river. the charles square garage or the 55 franklin st. garage are popular spots, and you can often pre-book a space for around $10-$25 on apps like spothero. the smith center garage and university place garage are also good options in the square area. the walk from the square is about 10-15 minutes and takes you over the charles river bridge and past the red line t-stop.

speaking of public transit, that's truly the best method if you hate traffic. take the red line subway to harvard square and then it's that easy 10-15 minute walk across jfk street and the bridge to the complex. if you don't want to walk that far, the 66 and 86 mbta bus routes stop directly on north harvard street right in front of the athletic complex entrance.

a final and serious warning: do not try to park on a residential side street in allston or cambridge unless you know the neighborhood really well and can confirm you're not in a permitted zone. those areas are mostly resident-permit only, and the city is ruthless with towing, especially during a high-demand event. you'll save yourself a lot of headache and money just paying for a guaranteed spot.

hope this helps, and enjoy the game!