By Tom Sullivan

What is the best way to see the world from somebody else’s point-of-view? Walk a mile in their shoes, right? How about riding 40 miles on their bus?

I recently took on the task of riding the bus to CCSU for one day, instead of driving like I normally would, to see exactly what the oft-overlooked students who use public transit go through on a daily basis.

I live in Bloomfield, which is about a 10-mile drive from campus, so normally it takes about 25-30 minutes for me to get to class. I tried my best to replicate the exact bus trip a student from Bloomfield would take, but I had to improvise a little, by driving to the nearest bus stop 2.3 miles from my house.

In order  to get to my 2 p.m. class on Tuesday, I had to be at the bus stop at 11:24 a.m. I paid my fare, $1.25, and got on the bus, which took me into downtown Hartford and dropped me off at the Gold Building at 12:08 p.m. From there, I walked two blocks to Central Row where I waited to transfer onto my next bus at 12:15 p.m. That bus slowly wound it’s way through Hartford, into Newington, and finally into downtown New Britain where I would board my final bus of the trip at 1 p.m. I paid another $1.25, and the bus made it’s way through New Britain via Oak Street, and dropped me off at CCSU at 1:16 p.m. for my class.

I had hoped to speak with some fellow students on that bus, because I knew a lot of people have class at that time, but I dejectedly got off alone in front of Davidson Hall.

So instead of my normal, half-hour commute, I spent two hours on the bus with no other students.

After class ended at 3:15, I had planned to ride the free CCSU shuttle back to Hartford, which was scheduled to arrive at 3:50, but never showed. While I waited for any other bus, I was able to speak with another student, who was equally disappointed with the shuttle service.

“I usually take the [Stanley Street Bus] or the [Oak Street Bus] to Westfarms, and then go downtown from there” said Nicola Weise, of Hartford, a junior, social work major, “I never ride the shuttle because I never know when it’s coming, and it doesn’t come too often anyway.

The CCSU shuttle is scheduled to pick up in front of Davidson Hall six times daily, starting at 7:50 a.m. and ending at 10 p.m., with each pick up usually between three and four hours apart (except when it picks up at 6:30 p.m. and again at 7:50 p.m.).

“I transferred from [Southern Connecticut State University] and buses down there came at least every hour,” said Wiese. “Maybe it’s because New Haven is bigger, but it was definitely more convenient and reliable, and more students used it.”

The CCSU Office of Institutional Research and development reported that there are just over 10,000 undergraduate students enrolled this fall at CCSU, making it the largest of the four regional state universities. With 2,156 them living on campus, according to their Fall 2010 Semi-Annual Statistical Report, that leaves around 80 percent of undergraduate students commuting to school, and only a very small percent of that are using public transit.

There is a plan in place for a new busway that will run on an abandoned railway, with 11 stops between Hartford and New Britain that may make trips like these more convenient. It is not expected that this project will be completed until December 2013 though,  according to the New Britain-Hartford Rapid Transit website(ctrapidtransit.com).

What was going to be a two-bus trip home; had become a three-bus trip. The Oak Street bus arrived at 4:16 p.m. and I was on my way to Westfarms Mall to wait for another bus to take me into Hartford. I boarded that bus at 4:41 p.m., it drove me downtown via Farmington Avenue and arrived at the Old State House at 5:30. From there I hopped on my last bus, paid my last fare and was back to my car at 5:59 p.m.

All-in-all the trip was 40.1 miles, cost five dollars, and lasted five and a quarter hours (not counting the 75 minutes spent in class).

Five dollars may sound like a lot for one day’s commute, but I wondered what it cost compared to the amount of gas I would normally use. Luckily CCSU, along with Rideshare CT and AAA, have a calculator for just such a thing on their commuter outreach website (www.ccsustudent.ridesharect.com). Each day I spend about $3.48 on gas for my Chrysler Pacifica, but I hadn’t even thought about how much my car depreciates with each day’s commute to school, which is about $13. So to drive my car to CCSU for a month adds up to a cost of $360, whereas a monthly pass with unlimited bus rides is only $45.

Public transportation is definitely more cost-effective, but is the time spent on the bus really worth it for someone with a commute as long as mine?  With the time I spent on the bus that day I could have driven to the Empire State Building and back, with traffic. Sure, I could have used that time on the bus to study, but it can be really difficult to read, write or type in a cramped space that is constantly rattling, shaking and bouncing like a bus.

So is it really worth it? Maybe not for me, but I’m sure it is for those without the luxury of their own private transportation. That Tuesday afternoon definitely made me appreciate my car more, and hopefully me sharing this experience will make other drivers stop complaining so much about parking on campus.