Why Cars not bikes

Bike_Maniac

Just a quick one regarding different uni citys.
I grew up near oxfoard and it is part of the culutre their to cycle to university. I assume this has been less attractive in recent years but their still is a major amount of bikes around oxford.

Yet in other university towns i see very few bikes but lots and lots of cars parked near the uni's and many conjesting the roads due to this. It makes my feelings for the debt ridden student less so than I would if i though they had been using all their money on feeding and clothing and buying books as well as the odd night out.

But to see such a mass of "poor students" in cars makes me feel far less sympathetic, surely its a total waste of money to tax a car, pay for petrol and insurance whilst studying!

Lokolo

Convinience... :cool:

GrammarGirl

Why is it a total waste of money?! Some students travel quite far to get to uni, and public transport is often rubbish and unreliable, so they use cars instead. Many had cars bought for them when they passed/on their 18th, so want to use them. I don't see a problem with that.

The issue surrounding congestion and traffic isn't solely down to students. In fact, I'd guess many more students walk/cycle to uni than drive, so you're really targeting the wrong group here. One woman I work with lives 5 mins away from the office yet still drives in every day. That's where the issue lies!

Bike_Maniac

You do have a fair point,Grammar Girl, but there definatly is a correlation with cars parked near colleges and uni's. But the 18th birthdays iossue it nonsence, which parent seeking to lower the debt burden on a student would by their child a white elephant like a car? surely giving money to lower the reliance on the loan system would be a far better option. Im not saying it doesnt happen Im just saying it creates financial burden.

3nicky1

I see a fair amount of bikes and I live in Sheffield where cycling isn't an attractive prospect due to the awful roads and the hills (maybe thats just me cos I'm unfit). I don't feel safe cycling round here so i rely on public transport.

I know this isn't the case fo everyone but some courses require placment time - for 6 months of the year I can be placed anywhere in South Yorkshire/some of the north midlands working shift patterns that mean I finish at 9.30 and need to be back at work by 7.00 so a car woul be very useful.

There are also people traveling in from as far as Leeds to get to my university.

CLAPTON

In both Oxford and Cambridge students typically live very close to their departments
The towns are pretty flat
It's virtually imposssible to park
There is a culture of cycling..(everyone does it)
There are lots of cycle rack where ever you go.
Motorists are by and large very used to bikes and make allowances
The towns have lots of cycleways


There are many Uni towns where cycling would be perfectly feasible but (chicken and egg) until the demand is there the infrastructure (cycle racks, bike lanes) won't be put in place and until the infrastructure is in place the students won't cycle.
But its also about fashion too... quite a change in London after the bombs but a long way to go to get the cycleways in situ.

Idiophreak

I think it's fair to say there are few students in the country that are *as poor* as those paying rent in Oxford, so I guess that could be a factor.

The ridiculous cost of parking a car in Oxford is also probably quite a large one.

That said, I've yet to fully establish why it is so many people cycle into Oxford - there's extremely poor provision for cyclists in a lot of places, there's no *secure* bike storage to speak of- hence the high ratio of "pringled" to "normal" wheels around the city and high theft rates.

There is, however, quite a decent bus service to most areas within the ring road, so why people wouldn't just use that, I'm not so sure...

celyn90

To be honest, I think it is up to people what they spend their money on. A few of my friends have cars, mainly post-grads, those with families and those that need cars for their studies (some of the medics on rotation drive to reach isolated practices for example).

I live in Oxford and drive a motorbike as I live outside of the city centre. I'm happy to walk, but I hate cycling and wouldn't consider it even if I lived further in. I have a parking permit and don't park anywhere where I would cause annoyance. The buses are expensive (it costs me less to drive than it would to have an annual ticket) and there is poor bus provision for my area; although it is better for central areas.

You should also factor in that to run a University you will need many many staff and many of these will drive too, so I'm not sure you can blame the cars on the students entirely. I also think it will rarely be students lacking money who will run cars.

I have noticed in Oxford that most of the congestion disappears when the schools break up.

Shoshannah

I am a student, I am poor, and I own a car.

It is only an old car I bought for £250 and I service it myself to save money. Incidentally, I don't smoke, don't drink and don't buy three pairs of shoes a week so I think I am entitled to spend what little extra cash I have on running my car.

I own a car for two reasons:

a) I need a car. My course requires travelling long distances to work placements all over the country. Within the past 12 months I have been on placements in Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and Devon. When at college I have often had to work long hours and night shifts. The campus is in the countryside with no bus service when you finish a shift at 4am. I don't like the thought of travelling down the country lanes by foot or on a bike in the pitch black. Maybe that's just me being a scaredy-cat.

b) I like having a car.

Maybe a lot of the poor students have cars paid for by their parents? There are loads of us who pay our own tax, MOT and insurance but also many who don't. I have friends with cars who don't even know who their insurance company is because their parents sort it all out for them.

chicken66_2

I bought a car in the Easter of my second year. This was for a couple of reasons.

I worked at home in the summer, and to get to work I was getting up at 5 to get the first train out of my home town (get to work for 8) and due to Rowing and socialising I was tending to get the last train home (about 11pm). I also could not travel before 10 on a sunday (training was at 8am), so i'm sure you'll understand that after 3 months of this i was literally 'dead on my feet' and felt the need for a car!

I Rowed through my first year, and really did not feel save in some of the other people's cars, for my sanity, safety, and to ensure that I could be where i needed to be without problems I felt it better to have my own car.

Now I am doing medicine and need a car. I'll cycle the 7 miles to university, or walk 1 mile to the local hospital (we live near the hospital particually to have less need for a car), but some of the other placements can be an hours drive, which becomes much more arduous on public transport. We can also be required to have a morning session in one place and an afternoon session in another. So for me this is another reason for having a car.

I do try to use the car as little as possible, including driving to a train station to get to another town where possible, but this all depends on what our schedules are.

I do understand your point of why do students need cars though! In most cases i dont think they do.

lauh88

I bought my car myself and learned to drive specifically to get to uni quicker! It took me an hour and a half on the bus and now it only takes 45 mins. Yes it's more expensive but I just can't afford to wear myself out getting up early, getting home late aswell as studying and having a part-time job. I need the extra time unfortunately for my bum, which would benefit greatly from cycling to uni! If only you could cycle through the Mersey Tunnel eh...