Sarah Trudan, a first-year in exploratory studies.
Whether it be going home for the weekend to visit family, or traveling to another school to visit a friend at another university, affordable transportation for the NC State student is imperative. At this time most college students living in the continental U.S. have limited transportation options that are affordable, comfortable and easy to find.
This being said, North Carolina transportation services are not in a deplorable state. Students can take the GoRaleigh bus around the city at an affordable rate because of the student discount. There are multiple discounts and affordable options on the market, but like everything, there is room for improvement.
The Raleigh Union Station, recently built in the summer of 2018, is an Amtrak station that offers four daily round trips between Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte. Conveniently located about 10 minutes from campus, this Amtrak station is a suitable choice for NC State students looking to go home for a weekend.
Unfortunately, for many of the students at NC State, the student discount for Amtrak does not apply to them. The student discounts for Amtrak are limited to trains in California, New York and the Midwest. Ticket prices can vary depending on when you buy them. A roundtrip ticket to Charlotte from the Raleigh Union Station booked a week in advance is around $70. For some college students, this can be expensive.
If a student has a last-minute emergency and they need to return home, prices can be even higher. Hurricane Florence, hitting the coast the morning of the Sept. 14, forced many students and faculty of NC State to leave campus. For some, this meant a last-minute booking for the Amtrak. For a roundtrip ticket booked the day of, tickets can be around $80. Some students looking to save money might look for alternate options of transportation, such as the Greyhound bus service.
Unlike Amtrak, Greyhound offers 10 percent off for students, and this includes students residing in North Carolina. Unfortunately, this student discount comes with a price of comfortability and time. Greyhound has access to more cities and is usually cheaper than the train, but it is often slower than the Amtrak. The Amtrak usually provides its passengers with a more timely and enjoyable ride.
Sometimes “student deals” are actually the normal price of a ticket packaged to look like a bargain. Students have to be sure to do their research online and make sure they are actually saving money. There are search engines such as Kayak that can be helpful for this, but students have to be thorough to make sure to find the best deal.
Transportation in the Raleigh area is becoming more and more accessible for the NC State college student. Students living in the Raleigh area can take the GoRaleigh and GoTriangle buses for $5 a year. Additionally, faculty and staff can pay only $5 a month. The GoRaleigh bus has multiple stops around the city, and for such a low price, it is a very economical option.
Affordable transportation can be difficult to find for in-state students, but for international and out-of-state students, it is even more challenging. Search engines such as Student Universe make the process of finding flights with student discounts easier, but there are still limited low-cost flights out there. This lack of affordable flights discourages students to visit their family and hometown, even if they really need to.
Easy access to home should be a universal right of all students. Whether it be to visit family and friends, escape from college stress, leave for an emergency or simply to take a break from the stress of college, all students deserve to go home without cracking into their savings account. North Carolina transportation services have a responsibility to create affordable options for the welfare of students. Improvements can still be made.