Driving Culture at USU: Bad for the environment and the wallet

Why do students feel they need to have a car at Utah State University when Logan provides free bus and shuttle systems?

Jeron Robbins, a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering, said, “I don’t like the bus very much. I have to take time to figure out the routes.”

Although there is a Cache Valley Transit District website that details the different bus routes, students seem to prefer using their friends’ cars.

“It’s a great system, but it’s not the way I like to travel. I really like transportation by car and if I know someone that’s super close, I might as well just ask them,” Robbins said.

Some students don’t mind looking at the website and find it easy to use.

“I didn’t have a car for the first two months of school and so I used the bus system quite frequently,” said Justin Winchell, a freshman majoring in special education. “It’s really not that hard to follow. Their online website is very informative and it’s very easy to follow, the bus routes and the bus schedules are all posted and they’re very good about following the bus schedules, so it’s never very confusing, and you always need to get where you need to get on time.”

Winchell admitted, however, that driving can be a better option.

“It is more convenient to have a friend with a car because, for example, if you are going shopping and you are riding the bus, you can only buy whatever you can carry,” he said. “You’re also more limited as to where you can go because of the bus routes and schedule, so you end up doing a lot of walking.”

Some students have jobs off campus that require the use of a car. Brittany Page, a freshman majoring in Elementary Education, works for a daycare off campus.

“I think it depends on if you work on campus. If you work far off campus, it would be a total pain to walk there,” Page said.

While there are many jobs on campus, students still get jobs off campus for various reasons, such as better pay, or preferred type of work.

“It also depends on whether you are from out of state or not,” said Fe’iloakitohi Heimuli, a freshman majoring in psychology. “If you’re from Utah you should probably have a car because then you can go home to your parents and grab supplies and stuff. But people from California are not necessarily going to be driving home every weekend.”

Students from out of state have cars as well, despite the long drive. Could this be due to the social advantage students with cars have?

“If you’re talking a social aspect, it would help out with driving friends to places.You could throw dating in there, too, which you can do without a car as well, but there are more opportunities and things you can do with a car,” Heimuli said.

Time is also a factor to consider when deciding whether to bring a car up to campus or not. The bus system is free, but students do have to plan a considerate amount of time to get to the bus stop, wait for the bus, possibly transfer to another bus, then walk to the exact location they are looking for.

“I worked off campus at Taco Bell and that’s how I got to Taco Bell and back, so it does work fairly well. It definitely takes a good chunk of time, though,” said Melissa Yauney, a special education major and freshman.

When students are in college, sometimes there is no other option than to take the bus, despite the amount of time used in traveling.

“If you have a job and you need to get to a place that is a decent distance away from any of the bus stops, that’s more time sensitive, it is definitely more convenient,” Winchell said. “I used to have to leave class early so I could catch a bus to then catch a subsequent bus, to then get to work on time.”

So are students at USU just lazier than other college students on other campuses?

“It probably is because we are a little lazier and we are going to choose what is most convenient for us at the moment and what is faster and easier,” Winchell said.

Although campus may seem congested with cars, there may actually be fewer cars at USU than at other college campuses, said James Nye, the director of USU Parking and Transportation.

“Of the 17,901 student that attend USU, we’ve sold to commuter students, 5,134 permits. And to residents living on campus, we’ve sold 2,390,” he said “That’s very average, probably even below average compared to other college campuses.”

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@RoniALake