Car on campus? Not worth it!
It seems that there are some aspirations that just about everyone seeks to obtain, whether they’re in the near future, or just at some point in a lifetime; for many young people, the thought of one day owning their own form of transportation—specifically a car—is like no other. While there are undoubtedly benefits to a purchase of this magnitude, it is worth pointing out that there are more than enough shortcomings that come with buying a car as well, especially on a college campus.
If there is one burden that becomes more apparent than any other, it is the frequency of how often people request rides from you. While assisting a friend out every now and then is just being considerate, it is the collective number of requests that can quickly turn ownership of a vehicle from a privilege to a nuisance. That being said, there’s no need to assume that the same small group of people will request rides—over time, the question itself becomes irritating, regardless of your response. When asked to drive to Walmart around midday, it is difficult to say no if you have no classes or other responsibilities. To simply deny a person can be a challenge, especially when the only answer you can offer to them is that you just don’t want to.
While this grievance may be viewed as someone finding it difficult to just say no, there is a fine line between trying to help a person out and never providing assistance of any sort to a friend who might be in a bind for transportation. The frequent line “I’ll give you gas money” may entice an occasional drive out of you, though as with anything else, it only gets you so far. Though it seems obvious that each ride should be handled on a case-by-case basis, this simple task can become an annoyance.
One point that always baffles me is the fact that there are frequent bus routes that pick up passengers from the Union; while not everyone lives on campus and is within a relatively short walk from this stop, not owning a car in a town like Geneseo does not mean you can’t be mobile. When asked to drive to Walmart at nine at night, my first thought is, ‘Why didn’t you take the bus earlier in the day?’
When owning a car on campus, one of the most frequent inconveniences is the task of finding a parking space. Speaking from a north-sider’s perspective, when you come back after a certain hour at night, you can forget about locating a decent spot as you will surely be parking either in the lot across from Orchard Street or even further down towards the roundabout at the bottom of the hill. There are people who are desperate enough to find a reasonable spot that they will circle the lot three or four times in the hopes of someone leaving and freeing up a space.
While it is not an exceptionally high fee, discovering a parking pass was not in fact free was something I was not fond of at first. $120 in the long run is not too detrimental an amount of money, but when spaces are so difficult to obtain, it seems the cost should be reflective of that.
There is definitely a certain degree of freedom that comes with owning an automobile; but, as with all good things, there are inevitable downsides, and that is most certainly the case when it comes to housing a car on this campus.