Continued from Part 1

Public Transit:

Key Points:

• Speed: 40 km/h
• Maximum viable distance: 25 – 40 km
  
  
• Cost: $1-$3 per ride, or $70-$100 for a monthly pass 
  
  
• Pro’s: Relatively cheap, as far as non-self-propelled transport goes.  Gets you out of the weather once you get on board.  If you can find a seat, you can whip out your book and get in some good study time. 
  
  
• Cons: Stops may not be close to your residence.  Indirect routes could take a lot of time.  Often crowded and dirty.  You must cede to the bus’ schedule.

If you can’t bike, your second best alternative will likely be to hop on the bus or subway.  Although not as cost effective as a bike, this type of transport is almost unavoidable, at least occasionally.  It has the benefits of usually passing by the university campus, keeping you dry, and allowing you to commute longer distances than would be possible via bike or walking.  It also has the benefit of allowing you to study while on the go, if this is something that you are able to do.

The main drawbacks are the schedule and the cost.  Unlike all of the other modes of transport discussed in this article, you’re stuck going to school at whatever time the bus leaves.  This might be ok if you can travel to and from campus during rush hour (but don’t count on being able to sit and study too easily during those hours), but if you’re stuck travelling after hours you may be forced to wait around or time your travels carefully to coincide with the transport’s schedule.  Also, you’re stuck paying a fair chunk of change for the privilege of public transport.  With costs typically ranging from 70-100 dollars per month, or around 1000 per year, you could easily have bought three to four good bikes.  Nevertheless, if you live far enough away from campus, you may be stuck with this option…

Car:

Key Points:

• Speed: 45 – 110 km/h
• Maximum viable distance: 120 km
  
  
• Cost: Depends on vehicle, distance, maintenance, and parking costs.  Planning on 400$/month would be a good start.
  
  
• Pros:  Your own vestibule into the world.  Large carrying capacity, bring friends, carpool.  No need to face the elements.  Determine your own schedule.  More gas can be applied when running late.
  
  
• Cons: Exorbitantly expensive for students.  This is a good way to rack up the debt before graduation.  If you’re the only person who has a car, your friends will always try to bum rides off of you.  This is ok for a time, but can get annoying and costly in the long run.  Unexpected maintenance costs can hit you hard, as can the cost of parking at the university.  Don’t forget about high insurance costs.  Need for a designated driver.

Do you have a maid at home?  Probably not.  Although it’s nice to have everything done for you without any effort, they’re simply too expensive to keep around unless you are a multi-millionaire.  The same principle applies to cars for university students.  If you have the extra cash, they can really make your life easy, be it getting to school, chilling with friends, or loading up on groceries.  They are fast and direct, and quite useful to have around, were it not for two main problems.

The downsides of cars are twofold.  First, if you’ve been paying attention in your life sciences classes, you’ll know that cars are bad for the environment.  This is particularly true if, like most people, you drive your 4-seater car to school by yourself.  You can try to mitigate this a bit by buying a coupe (looks sporty too, great for attracting hot dates) or by carpooling, but even so the costs still remain quite high.  Now, you might be thinking that you can afford these increases – you did just work and save a chunk of change over the summer.  However, we caution against just trying to live off your government loans and student savings to ensure that your total cash by years’ end is $0.  First, cars as a whole are very expensive; much more so than a dealer might let them on to be.  In addition to the initial cost, you’ll be stuck paying for gas, maintenance, parking, and insurance.  These costs can add up to be quite substantial, so if you are considering the car choice, make sure that you realize just what it is you’re getting into.  Second, if anything goes wrong with a car, repair costs can be quite substantial.  Remember the bike costs, normally $20 max for spare parts?  Multiply that by a factor of ten to get the basic car repair cost.  Additionally, if anything else goes wrong with the car, repair costs can be quite substantial, especially if not covered under warranty.  Finally, if you take responsibility for driving yourself and friends around, you can’t get plastered at the end of the week.  And that’s a very important factor to weigh.

UniversityAdvice.com Bottom Line:
If it is at all feasible, you should try to bike or walk to school.  The costs of these modes of transportation are negligible, plus you get some free exercise time to help keep you in shape and keep off the “frosh fifteen” during the entire length of your university studies.  If these options are not feasible, you should try your best to use public transit, as it reflects the best compromise between cost, convenience and time.  As a last resort, consider a car – however, before you select this option we strongly encourage you to see if you can’t rent a place closer to campus to save you the substantial added expense that transport by car entails.
Wishing you a pleasant time in your university travels!

Continued from Part 1

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