How about a car? Or a motorcycle?
Parking costs, safety issues.
Complete hijack, but I always thought you were a conductor. And now I discover that we actually have the same employer.
The conducting is just a hobby. The MIT group I sometimes work with doesn’t pay me.
Seconded
I used to drive to a nearby train station, and take the train to work. Then I tried walking the 2.5 miles to the nearest train station (which I couldn’t drive to due to no parking). After I did it I rarely drove anymore. I really looked forward to that walk both before and after work.
Admittedly I have only lived in two large cities as an adult, but using a bus and a train or even, two buses and a train or any combination is just par for the course, sucky though it may be. Are you looking for a door to door service?
Oh sorry, I didn’t see any mention of parking costs. I must have missed it.
I’m with you. Having grown up in NYC, any commute than involves “only” one transfer is considered pretty convenient. Hell, I knew people who took a train, a ferry, a subway, and a transfer to another subway (2+ hrs travel), just to get to high school. At least they pay the OP where he’s going.
Segway on the sidewalk? 
I vote for riding a bicycle. There are things you can do to minimze your risk; it’s a lot safer then you might think.
It seems like at least half of all transportation-related Pit threads involve the Boston area.
Personally, I bike to work every day (well, I’m a bike messenger, so I bike for work, but whatever), and can attest to Boston being a dangerous city to ride in. That said, it’s far from impossible, and has its own rewards. It’s also probably not an option during particularly inclement weather, which is also generally the times that the T decides to take its sweet time and when every wet miserable commuter tries packing into the car. And, of course, the Green Line is the one that you can’t take a bike on board.
On the other hand, a three mile bike ride on a nice day is infinitely preferable to spending it standing in the stairwell on the D line with your head in the four inch gap between the door and the ass of a drunken obnoxious douchebag that just got out of the Sox game. My hatred of the MBTA knows as few bounds as their incompetence.
I sympathize. Back when I was a poor grad student without car, a typical one-way commute involved a mile of biking, a packed-to-the-max train ride, and a half-mile walk through the slums of Newark. When I didn’t want to cough up fare, it was a five-mile bike ride through the slums of Newark. If I didn’t feel like doing any form of physical activity, it was an hour-and-a-half bus ride. Regardless of the option I chose, it would take forever to get home and I would always be incredibly tired and full of hatred for humanity. In the mornings it was rough because I had an early class twice a week, and I would always have precisely ten minutes to make it from the train station to school. Not enough time to grab breakfast or take a leisurely stroll through the ghetto. No, it was rush-rush, and then being all out of breath when I got to class.
Have you thought about biking part of the way? Like to the trolley stop? That’s why I used to bike to the train station from home; I was usually too wimpy to bike the whole five miles to school (the way home was worse because it was all up-hill). Because biking is faster, I could wake up later, leave home later, and get home faster in the afternoon. You eventually get used to the traffic and other hazards (always wear a helmet). If you’re worried about theft, you could always get a cheap bike from the Salvation Army.
It may be something to consider.
Per mile fatality rates: bicycling is safer than being in a car.
So, I eigtht or whatever the bike suggestion. Be aware, ride defensively, don’t break the traffic laws, don’t flip anyone off, and for Chrissakes, wear a helmet, and you’ll be just fine; again probably safer than in a car.
Bike! Bike bike bike bike bike! Riding a bike (in just about any weather) is far, far more pleasant than the crowding and expense of public transportation. I am a strong advocate of public transit, but we all know that it sucks during rush hour. And the T sucks in general. Three miles is a short, short ride - even at a slow pace, it won’t take more than 20 minutes - and it is indeed safer than driving, and a lot more fun, too! As an added bonus, you get to feel smug as you roll past all the “cagers” sitting stuck in rush hour traffic. Fresh air and schadenfreude; what could be better than that? 
Yeah, then there’s that. And I agree that riding in the Winter would suck in so very many ways. I think back to that last big storm we had, and juxtapose a bike ride on that, and laugh.
But if I only take cabs or the T when the weather is that bad, then…
There’s still the issue of biking on Brookline Ave at rush hour. You couldn’t pay me enough. As for storing it, it seems like there’s a safe enough place to do so at work. I should periodically check there throughout the year to see how often people do that. I know plenty that do during the Summer.
Storing a bike in my apartment? I live in a studio, so I’d be hard-pressed to find a place to put it. But it’s worth some thought.
The route… Brookline Ave is right out, as is the Riverway. But I can probably cross those easily enough and take side streets. That still leaves either Beacon St or Comm Ave. Once again, they seem very dangerous. But waterj2, since you seem to be the resident expert on Beantown Biking, what do you think? Would you do the route from LMA to the corner of Comm and Chestnut Hill? If so, how?
Winter commuting in Boston is a bit nasty. So far, so mild this year but I know the weather could turn at any time. I have a pretty straightforward commute for which I’m grateful, with a half-mile walk either end and really growing up in a pleasant climate did not prepare me for the realities of walking even that short distance in below freezing temps and snow and ice. I’d hate to have to push out the communing with nature any further on bad days. I know that probably makes me a wuss but I just don’t care. I really, really sympathise with the reluctance to bike. Add in the traffic and yeesh. Good for you for considering alternative solutions to the evil coomute and good luck and I hope you find a biking route that is both suitable and safe.
I’d probably take Longwood out through Brookline, until it ends on Harvard Ave. just outside Coolidge Corner, then Beacon out to Chestnut Hill. I don’t ride around Brookline much, but I seem to recall all those being decent for riding. I can’t really see any way to avoid Beacon without going far out of your way. There’s really nothing going parallel to it.
Yeah, I can see that.
Would it be bitchy to say, “don’t live in Boston”? Because Boston sucks donkey balls. I live two miles from work. I drive. Takes me ten minutes. I park downtown for $35 a month. I could ride a bike, but I’d get to work sweaty.
I’m in a dorm room single and I’ve got a bike two feet behind me. I love it. I kiss it goodnight everynight.