For students who don’t have the luxury of being able to walk to class, carpooling is an attractive alternative to commuting alone.
It’s cost-effective, it’s environmentally friendly, it saves gas ““ the benefits go on and on.
Renee Fortier, director of transportation services, said the university offers an exclusive carpool-matching program for students. Over 1,000 students are using the service this quarter.
Edson Ramos, a first-year history student, said that carpooling is very cost-effective, especially for someone like himself who does not get any financial aid.
“Compared to paying $10,000 for housing, I’d rather commute,” he said. “I mean, the typical monthly housing payment is hundreds of dollars. Instead, I only pay about $150 a month for transportation costs.”
The advantages of carpooling extend beyond the financial savings. For many students, carpooling creates new friendships and a sense of camaraderie.
Mike de Land, a graduate student in sociology, said this camaraderie comes from being able to talk to someone in the morning before classes.
“I mean, you go through a morning routine together, and that really builds friendships,” he said. “For me, it’s good to have a conversation early in the morning. It gets my brain going.”
Miguel Flores, a first-year mechanical engineering student, said that, though he feels the commute to school is terrible, the extra time allows for students to finish up homework or study for midterms.
“When you’re in the car, there’s really nothing else you can do besides study or listen to music. It forces people to do their work,” he said.
While some students who carpool said they are afforded with plenty of opportunities to socialize, others expressed concern that living off campus limits those options.
Ramos said sometimes he feels isolated from the rest of the student body because he is a commuter.
“I’m don’t dorm here and I’m not here for the activities, and that takes a lot out of the experience,” he said.
De Land agreed, noting that it can be difficult to meet new people in class.
“That’s a different environment which is meant to be a little less social. In general, the dorms are more conducive to making friends,” he said.
Commuters who don’t have much of a social life, however, may find what they’re looking for in carpooling.
Fortier said that she feels carpooling helps replace the social options that normal commuters don’t get because they live off campus.
“We’ve had people testify that, in addition to the economic benefit, they make friends (through carpooling),” she said.
Still, the general consensus among carpoolers is that, though they may not have as many social opportunities as students who live on campus, they are more than happy with the friends they have already.
Flores said that he feels the friends he has made this year will be more than enough to keep him socially satisfied next year.
“I will feel a little out of touch because I won’t be living here, but at the same time I can just crash for a few days in one of my friends’ rooms,” he said.