An aspect of college that many people do not think about is transportation. This is a huge factor in college expenses that kind of stays under the radar because it is something we do everyday and to not think twice about. In this post we will be discussing some different options for transportation and how they may financially affect you and your bank account.
On-Campus Parking Passes
Depending on your college, campuses will usually have multiple parking lots that have specific passes for each lot. Students usually purchase these parking passes for a whole year or whole semester. These passes can be very expensive but you also need to factor in how much you will utilize this pass and how much you will benefit. Larger college campuses typically provide shuttle buses for students to utilize at no extra cost.
On-Campus Shuttle Buses
Utilize your college’s shuttle buses because these are usually no extra charge to students and they usually use their student id as their bus pass. The buses may also drop you off closer to your class building than a parking spot may be. These shuttle buses are also able to transport you to grocery stores or any places you may need to run any errands!
Carpooling
Another way to save money on transportation is to carpool with roommates or classmates. This is more of an uncommon one and harder to utilize because everyone has such different schedules so this is easier to accomplish with people in your major because your classes may line up a little easier. This way you can all contribute to gas prices or parking pass prices and splitting these costs in half.
Bike or Scooter
Lastly, a popular type of transportation that students are using a lot now is either riding your bike or scooter to class. Many students are now purchasing electric scooters or electric bikes especially if they have a long trip from their house off campus or if they have to get across campus in a short amount of time. This is a one time purchase and can be used for most if not all of your college experience saving you the annual or biannual cost for a parking pass.
Some extra tips on saving money on transportation are trying to schedule your classes close together to limit the amount of trips you make to campus and where you live compared to campus will affect how you get to campus. These are just some extra little things to think about that do end up being big factors in your transportation to campus.
Join me next week to discuss traveling and going on vacation in college along with some tips and tricks!
See you soon!!