Budgeting essentials: Travelling around campus

A famous proverb says: “He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” Personally, I think the wise man behind this statement really meant to say “he who does not squeeze himself into the U1 bus every morning is yet to know the true value of living on campus”- or something along those lines…

Living off campus has its upsides: an environment differing from campus, a whole choice of bars and restaurants, the chance to reintroduce ourselves back into ‘civilization’ where the average person walking down the road isn’t shoving leaflets advertising their exec campaign in our faces, but it certainly comes at a price.

In fact, budgeting for travel expenses probably wasn’t one of your original attractions for living off-campus. With so many differing travel options to choose from, it’s hard to decide which one will really save you money. Let me help you find the most economical way of travelling onto campus.

For the lucky few of you who have the option of bringing your car up to uni with you, perhaps your decision will be determined by the grand unveiling of the costs entailed. On average, if you were to travel to and from Leamington Spa and campus for five days a week, then you will find yourself paying roughly just short of £20 on petrol a week.

It may sound petty, but the petrol costs are marginally smaller from Kenilworth and Coventry, especially when we take into consideration the fact that Leamington tends to be locked in traffic, therefore guzzling up more petrol (I could preach the “save the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves” mantra but that mindset is one we’re all too familiar with).

Parking on campus is relatively cheap, (£1.50 for 4 hours and £3 for the whole day), and if you are going to make frequent trips to campus, then it may be sensible to invest in a Scratch Card: costing £30, it works on a monthly basis whereby you get 12 full days’ parking, saving £6. Distributed amongst friends, the cost of running and parking a car may save you money in the long term, although gauging how many people will help with petrol and how often may be difficult and could end up working on a trial and error basis.

Luckily, Warwick offers the happy solution of ‘Take a Mate’, a service which utilises the need to distribute, and therefore lessen, petrol costs through bringing together students on a more formal basis. They may be strangers and you might find yourself having to turn up the music a little louder, but such a set-up avoids turning close friendships into business arrangements and you might meet some great people in the process.

Moving swiftly onto the most common choice of transport for students, the beloved bus, the prices for bus tickets varies widely across the different buses. When travelling from Leamington to campus, the buses available are the 12 and the U1, with the latter tending to run marginally more regularly, (pending bus drivers not stopping to have a ciggy half way through the trip).

The U1 is marginally more expensive, (the 12 charges £1.70 for a single whereas the U1 charges £2.35). The difference in pricing does add up, so the question remains why most students opt for the Unibus? For one, the 12 doesn’t offer change, (I challenge you to have exactly £1.70 at 9am in the morning, whilst rushing for a lecture and bemoaning your decision to stay up the night before).

Secondly, the U1 feels part and parcel of the Warwick experience; it’s almost an initiation to student life, whether it’s through the comedy (albeit dark) of sports teams getting off the bus to go to circle dressed in ridiculously themed clothes, the collective angry faces at the bus-stop when it’s running late, the fact we love to slate the running of the service yet stand there bemused when a 12 comes along, and even just the fact that it’s now habitual to get on it come noon and night; all of these moments make it one of the often overlooked experiences of university that we’ll always look back on, and that is priceless.

However, let’s be blunt: some notions of ‘priceless’ are less painful for the wallet than others. One of the perks of the U1 is its termly/year bus passes, which can be purchased both online and at the Stagecoach Travel Shop on Regents Street.

Without the bus pass, the average student is looking to spend £155 a term; a termly bus pass comes in at £107, saving £48. Even better, a yearly one comes in at £261.00; it would be £321 per annum if you went for termly bus passes and, worse still, £465 without a pass. The figures add up; buying a yearly bus pass can save up to £204. Post-graduates should look to purchase passes that are inclusive of the summer months.

Last but not least, the cheapest form of transport is the good old fashioned bicycle. In light of the recent attention given to green issues on campus, it seems appropriate to champion such an environment-friendly, resourceful, cheap and enjoyable option.

Warwick campus offers many facilities to help provide a smooth journey, including a webpage that gives cyclists a route planner for journeying around Warwick and, better still, university staff and students are eligible for a discounted bicycle package negotiated with the local cycle shop, Albany Cycles, in Earlsdon.

If you’re new to cycling and the prospect of journeying alone in a potential thunderstorm on busy roads is unappealing, then the university’s service ‘BikeBudi’ may be your answer, as it unites cyclists across campus, allowing people to travel together in groups. Don’t let the cheesy branding put you off; cycling is a pastime with a recent resurgence, probably less to do with dear old Boris Johnson and more to do with its affordability and the environmental gains.

It is clear that the choices of travel are as divisive in the experience they offer as they are in their affordability. When it comes to choosing the most financially reasonable option for you, factors such as your housemates and your lifestyle must also be considered: savings can never be quantified to the simple matter of numbers. However, it is clear that there are certain ways of ensuring that you have a smoother, and hopefully cheaper, journey.

Whether you get to campus in a bicycle hat, rushing off a late bus or relieved that you managed to find a parking space, by following the above advice you might have a bit of spare change to buy yourself a nice cup of tea and sink back into the day. Happy travelling.