It is odd for a piece like TFA to fail completely to mention the role of internal combustion engines. Harvard has many shuttle buses, which might make sense when the snow is deep but seem actively harmful while serious consideration is being given to a phys ed requirement. A less coercive and cheaper solution might be to scale back the shuttle buses and introduce some sort of bike-sharing scheme. They could make uphill rides like Mather to the Yard free, and charge a nominal fee on the fun downhill rides. (Otherwise all shared bikes would end up in the river forever.) I guess they'd want to subsidize both directions for those poor souls stuck in the Quad.

[EDIT:] It occurs to me that this is the sort of amenity that would be basically free for Harvard to provide. Because it would be a highly visible part of students' lives, hordes of donors will line up to sponsor individual bikes (with donor nameplates), pay stations (likewise), named chairs for bike mechanics, or even the whole program.