Chloë Schauermann is a journalism freshman and rotational opinion columnist for Mustang News. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.
“How are we getting there?” is a common phrase among Cal Poly students without a car who rely on buses, walking, biking, Uber or Zipcar to navigate the city and its surroundings. Despite the variety of travel options available, timely and convenient transit in San Luis Obispo often takes a back seat — literally.
Scheduling life around bus schedules isn’t the only problem students without cars face; alternatives prove to be just as troublesome. Rideshares are expensive and knowing someone with a car is hard to come by, especially for a first-year. Many students are left stranded without suitable resources to explore the city they just moved to.
Simple errands, like a trip to Target or Trader Joe’s which is just under four miles away, can be a challenge for busy students who can’t spend several hours waiting for a ride to and from a location. I’ve found myself compromising grocery runs due to the limited weekend bus schedule, as the next ride wouldn’t arrive for another 45 minutes.
“I should not have to pay $10 or $20 just to go on a five-minute drive downtown,” said Tara Zarmandilly, a business administration freshman who frequently uses Uber as an alternative to buses. “For the high demand of people, we need to have a better system of transportation.”
Cal Poly’s student population has grown substantially over the last five years, with double-occupancy dorms shifting slowly into triples and quads in yakʔitʸutʸu turning into quintuple occupancy to accommodate more students.
The Kennedy Library and Performing Arts Center are among the most popular bus stops in the city. Ella Andersen, a public health freshman, uses the bus multiple times per day, three to four days a week. She has experienced several inconveniences with weekend bus schedules that only run A routes.
“There are such limited times; you either have to be where you want to be for a much shorter amount of time or a much larger amount of time,” she said. “There have also been a lot of times when I’ve been on the buses, and it’s really crowded. You have to be jammed in like sardines.”
SLO Transit Mobility Services Business Manager Alex Fuchs spoke about the limited bus schedule from campus and how the agency plans to move forward with recent complaints.
“Operating B routes on weekends [we] anticipate will be about $260,000 at today’s costs,” Fuchs said. “That would be, of course, slightly more than we would like to implement in two years’ time.”
Despite high costs, the city plans to address complaints, with Fuchs emphasizing that if there is a significant need in the community, they are “happy to try to implement it.”
My first trip to Avila Beach as a college student was via Uber, and it cost me $45 each way for a 15-minute drive. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a better way there unless I had a friend with a car, which makes enjoying the landscape and culture of SLO inaccessible to a student like me who chose Cal Poly based on its location.
Dave Amos, a City and Regional Planning professor at Cal Poly who serves on the transportation committee in SLO, also recognizes this struggle.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to be a great transit city, unfortunately, just because of our size and the money we have to spend,” Amos said.
The city is not the only one at fault when it comes to this problem, because Cal Poly doesn’t offer many solutions either. A shuttle to the airport on big travel days or a bus that runs around SLO, not just on campus, later to accommodate students who go out at night are just some of the ways they could benefit student life.
There are some positives worth recognizing when it comes to getting around the city, like its walkability and accessible bike paths. College students are typically able-bodied and more willing to make a trek than other groups, but I don’t find that a good enough excuse for a lack of better alternatives.
Considering the volume of students that make up SLO’s general population, we should be a bigger priority in transportation. If Cal Poly continues to grow in popularity, changes will need to be made to meet the needs of the city’s most frequent bus riders.