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Tuesday 31 January 2012

Run for that bus!!

-By Amanda

Hi all, since this is my first post here I’d just like to say welcome!
Hopefully your experience with Deakin so far has been good, although it may take some time to find your feet, or your bus. I know that it took me a while. Mainly because before I started Uni I had never taken any form of public transport on my own, and then suddenly I had to travel to Geelong!

I hate public transport.  I’m so grateful that it exists, because I don’t drive, but I still hate it. Getting from point A to point B is sooooo much easier if you can drive because you can take whichever route you want. If I were to drive to Waurn Ponds from where I live, it would take about 45 minutes. It once took me 4 hours to get from my house to Waurn Ponds. Four. Long. Hours.

How did that happen? I missed a bus. That then meant that I missed a train, which meant that I had to wait two hours for the next one, and that train happened to be running late and meant that I missed the shuttle bus from the Waterfront Campus and had to wait for the public bus from town. The icing on the cake? I had a meeting with some class mates to work on a group assignment, which I then ended up missing. Luckily my travels were not a complete waste since I did have a class later that day which I was nice and early for.

The moral of my story? Plan ahead, and plan for the worst. This little tool saved me quite a few times; it’s the VicLink Journey Planner and you can punch in where you are and where you want to go and it will tell you what bus/train/tram will get you there. Public transport is sometimes extremely unreliable, but there are good days. On one of those it only really takes me an hour and a bit to get to Waurn Ponds.

Alternatively I also suggest that you talk to the people in your course – you’d be amazed at how many people you might meet who live close to you and drive to Uni. I’m not saying you should stalk people who have their green P’s or a full license, but I definitely recommend carpooling. Deakin even has a service to help you out; TravelSmart.

Hopefully you don’t have too many dramas with travelling to Uni, although feel free to comment and share if you do, or if you have any more advice for new students. Travel safe!

17 comments:

  1. even though it takes me 15 mins to reach deakin by tram, i always leave early, because sometimes the tram is early and sometimes you keep waiting!!!!

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    1. I learnt that the hard way too, and as much as it sucks to wait, it's way worse when you're waiting for a bus that came early..

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  2. Looking forward to reading more on this blog, thanks for the post!

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  3. Yes, leaving early is something I discovered the hard way. Warrnambool to Waurn Ponds - on one occasion I missed the first 2 hrs of lectures, roadworks everywhere.

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    1. Eep :S
      Driving definitely has it's hazards too, and sometimes delays are just inevitable :(

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  4. that would have sucked!!! traveling so much and then missing classes!!!! bummer!!!!

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  5. Even though it is preferable to own a car, the traffic can turn your plans topsy-turvy at times. I remember being late for my tax exam by 15 minutes because I got stuck in peak hour traffic. If I had to take public transport, I would have reached on time for my exam. So public transport has its own pros and cons I would say.

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    1. So true, that's why I think it'd be best to mix both - if I could drive to the train station that would be perfect.

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    2. Or better yet (I know this wouldn't work in your case, Amanda), but why not cycle to the station? :-)
      Nice workout and no need to worry about parking and possible fines. In some cases, you could be able to park your bike in a special bike cage/locker.

      With that said, the public transport is at the mercy of the network not being delayed. Electrical faults, among other issues and adverse events, can cause the network to go into chaos.

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  6. That's one benefit of studying from home - I don't get lost or turn up late! Great blog :)

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    1. haha, yeah I've opted for online classes rather than travelling when it comes to Waurn Ponds - working on a post about it now :)

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    2. Then again, that arrangement only works for students who can motivate themselves; that's what I've found, anyways. I'm looking forward to that particular post. :-)

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  7. I'm so sorry for the delayed replies, in the process of studying for exams & writing up new posts. Thanks to everyone for the comments :)
    In the process of replying to all now..

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    1. Great post! Journey Planner has definitely been a life saver. Missing public transport is no fun at all, especially when the weather is looking unfriendly. Best wishes for the upcoming exams and looking forward to future postings!

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    2. At least someone knows their priorities... :-P
      Haha; that said, I wish you all the best for your three exams. XD

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