car vs bus vs legs

[Guest chiapet921]

Hi there!~

 

Just want to ask for some opinion on this issue. What might be some of the current med students' views on driving vs taking the bus vs walking?

 

Heard there's a bus pass for undergrad students? Is that available for med students?

 

Also, about how much is it to park on campus?

 

Hehe...thanks!

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Unfortunately, there ain't much housing within walking distance of UWO. I learnt that in first year - in undergrad, living in Halifax, I walked everywhere. London is suburbarafically suburbararama. . . ie designed for cars and fastfood culture.

 

I spent most of undergrad and the summer going into first year thinking people who shelled out $$ for a car were crazy. But then I caved by March of 1st year and bought my neighbour's car from residency (she's an Anaesthetist who had just paid off the debts and upgraded to an Audi A8)

 

One thing I wish I'd known when I was looking for housing is that there are two main corridors on which most of the buses to UWO run. If you live on Richmond anywhere between downtown and UWO you'll have no problem getting buses. Not only the regular buses ok but they run extra shuttles along that route during rush hours. Same is only a little less true for Western/Wharncliffe down to Riverside (good buses, less shuttles). Buses are pretty good to Masonville as well.

 

It's probably easier to get a place close to things like Grocery store/drug store/bars/etc (eg Richmond & Oxford, Masonville) and commute to Campus rather than to have an easy walk to campus but then be stucking picking up milk at 10pm on a Tuesday night (or be stuck AFTER picking up beer 10 pm on a Friday )

[Guest aneliz]

You automatically get a bus pass for Sept-April with your student fees (same as the UWO undergrads). The bus is pretty adequate for most people during first year (provided that you live on a 'main' bus route...more about this later!) and you *can* walk to school if you find housing in the Masonville or 'just north of downtown' area - it will take ~15-20 minutes. One thing to keep in mind is that in London, NOT all bus routes are created equally - some buses come every 10 minutes, some every hour. Some have service continuously from early morning to midnight...others have service from 9-5 on weekdays, and some only run at 'rush hour' (ie 7-10, 3-7). Major routes that will get you to UWO are - #13, 6, 10, 2, 9. These buses run frequently for a large number of hours each day.

 

In truth, when you are in class most days in first year, you will be quite content to take the bus...no car to shovel out in the winter, no parking lot to hike from, etc. However, once you start traveling around more for class sessions (2nd year) you start to appreciate having wheels - because even with major bus routes, it can still take ~ an hour to get across town. You will start to appreciate having people in your groups that have cars to make the process faster. However, you can still get by without a car of your own.