The Perks And Pitfalls Of Commuting

Taking transit to your classes, whether it’s the bus or subway or streetcar, can save you a lot of cash if you’re careful!

Staying in residence comes with all sorts of experiences: lumpy mattresses, late-night beer runs, unidentifiable lunch meat, and wrapping all your roommate’s belongings in tin foil. But what if you don’t have the money? What if you don’t have the time? What if you really, really like living at home, with your parents doing all the laundry and cooking and cleaning?

Try commuting to school instead. Taking transit to your classes, whether it’s the bus or subway or streetcar, can save you a lot of cash if you’re careful. Here are some tips for the campus commuter:

Look at your class schedule. Are you going to classes five days out of the week, or only one or two? Do you have more than one class a day, and where are they being held—will you need to take transit to travel between them?

If you’re only on campus one or two days a week, it’s probably better to invest in tokens or tickets, or put some money for cash fares aside in your budget. If you’re travelling more than that, though, you may want to invest in a weekly or monthly pass. Transit systems in major cities will usually offer a special student pass with lowered prices: check with your local transit system—the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), Vancouver TransLink, Edmonton Transit System (ETS), and Halifax Transit, for example—or your registrar on where you can pick up yours.

Plan for delays. One of the drawbacks of commuting to campus is time: traffic, bad weather and local events can all impact getting to your classes. A good rule of thumb is to plan to arrive half an hour early—if everything goes to plan you can get a coffee, check your email and Facebook, or fit in some extra studying; if not, you’re still in the clear.

Don’t forget to keep a close eye on weather, traffic and transit updates, either through your phone or on your computer. Also check your college or university’s webpage—if there’s a major accident or severe weather (like a snowstorm or flooding), campuses may cancel or reschedule classes for commuters.

And finally, observe proper etiquette. If you have a big backpack, stow it under your seat or between your feet. If you’re working on your laptop, don’t play music too loudly. Be polite to bus drivers and transit workers—they’re just doing their jobs. Always give up your seat for elderly people, pregnant people, and people with mobility issues. And if you’re going home after a big party on campus, pocket your keys and take the nearest bus.

Good luck! And remember one last thing: sometimes timetables for the bus are more of a suggestion than an actual rule. Always have a couple of alternate routes in mind, just in case.