RSJ/Aru Kaul
INTRODUCTION
A new poll conducted on Ryerson campus with 1302 responses, found that almost 69 per cent of student respondents rely on TTC or GO Transit to get to university.
Another way of looking at this is 900 students.
Ryerson students experience a hindrance in their social and academic life because of the time spent commuting. Almost 40 per cent of surveyed students experience a travel time of longer than 50 minutes, indicated by the poll.
Students who were interviewed said that commuting takes up a lot of their time and limits the time they spend on themselves. They said that many parts of their university life are affected such as social relations, education and extracurriculars.
“Commuting affects my social life. I can’t be out downtown with my friends too late because I always have to make sure I get the train home,” said Emma Kunzelmann, a second year journalism student.
RSJ/Aru Kaul
The results from the poll show that the majority of the surveyed students are not involved with the Ryerson community. Almost 76 per cent are not active members of a student group, while almost 95 per cent are not part of a team through Ryerson Athletics.
If a club I want to join falls on a day I don’t have class or an inconvenient time, I won’t join it because of my commute. I schedule my life around my classes.”
Emma Kunzelmann, second year journalism
Commuter students are often forced to cancel their commitments to clubs or student groups which limits their university involvement.
“I’m part of the Ryerson Engineering Student Society (RESS). I often have to leave meetings early because my commute time is so long and the way that GO schedules work,” said Zyam Dewan, a first year mechanical engineering student.
Many students do not have the time for jobs or international learning. Almost 43 per cent of the surveyed students do not work and 60 per cent have not taken part in any international learning opportunities, despite wanting to.
This visual shows where the interviewed Ryerson students commute from.
Students say that commuting is draining and leaves them with less time to study.
“My commute is one hour and 10 minutes through train or one hour and 20 minutes through bus. This leaves me with less time to study and do work,” Dewan said.
“My commute time of one hour and 30 minutes could be used to study, I don’t like studying on trains. Having to commute for 8:00 a.m. classes is annoying, especially during midterms,” said Gian Carlo Bolivar, a first year mechanical engineering student.
Students are often impacted by TTC and GO Transit delays, which affects their commute.
“I experience long wait times and crowded trains. Sometimes there are GO Train delays or cancellations and I have to board the bus, which takes the highway, making my commute longer,” said Tarang Bhavsar, a first year business technology management student.
The delays often go on for so long that they cause students to miss their classes.
“When there was a subway cancellation, I used Google Maps to get to find a bus route to get to school. I ended up missing class because of it.”
Gian Carlo Bolivar, first year mechanical engineering
The cost of living in Toronto
RSJ/Aru Kaul
Students mentioned cost of living as their reason for choosing to commute.
“The costs of living for downtown is too high and commuting would be better for my situation,” Dewan said.
It is expensive to live in Toronto. As of 2019, a one bedroom condo can cost up to $2212 per month for one person, internet can cost up to $156.98 per month and transportation can cost up to $254.10 per month.
“I choose to commute as I don’t have the income or ability to afford a place to live in Toronto. It is highly expensive and then I would have to figure out grocery costs and make my own food,” said Zarien Awan, a first year professional communication student.
Commuting impacts Ryerson students in many ways. Students said that it hinders their ability to be involved in school and it is time consuming. However, the students recognized that living in Toronto is expensive and commuting is the money saving option.