attending UCLA without a car?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>i'm deciding between UCLA and berkeley .. and i'm really leaning towards UCLA. but the one thing holding me back is transportation .. i won't have a car, and i heard it's really difficult to do anything or get around without one. i got my license late, so using zipcar isn't an option for a while. </p>

<p>so my questions are:
1. how much would not having a car impact my [social] life? would i feel stranded all the time?
2. is public transportation that bad, or can i actually somewhat use it?
3. other suggestions for getting around?</p>

<p>thanks! =)</p>

2

<p>Honestly you will probably live in the Westwood bubble your first year or two anyhow. As for public transportation the buses are fine going to the beaches. Downtown is about an hour on the bus east. It is doable. By the time you are a jr or sr you might venture living in an apt off campus but the buses connect as well. It’s NOT bay area public transit by ANY MEANS - LA public transit sucks but you can get around as much as you need to and catch rides for special events.</p>

3

<p>The irony here is that it’s almost impossible for students to have cars their first couple years anyway (assuming they live on campus).</p>

4

<p>There’s so much in the Westwood area alone adjacent to the UCLA campus that even in the most dire of times, you shouldn’t feel stranded.</p>

5

<p>Cars certainly more conducive to off-campus living, but even among dorm mates, there will be some that do have cars.</p>

6

<p>My son has a car at UCLA and he still prefers taking the bus most of the time, especially if he’s going downtown.</p>

7

<p>That is a busy area with lots of things in walking distance, restaurants, Trader Joe for shopping. The bus service in the immediate area is good, you can get to Santa Monica beaches easily. Shuttles to the airport are no problem either and it isn’t all that far.</p>

<p>The main issues would be side excursions to see more of LA goings on. You’ll find friends with cars, no doubt.</p>

8

<p>(Disclosure: I work for UCLA Transportation, and I lived in campus housing for two years while working on my MA in urban planning. However, I am speaking solely for myself here.)</p>

<p>Most students, particularly those living in campus housing, don’t even have cars. You need to make a strong case to our department to attain a parking permit, and unlike some college campuses, ours charges the true cost of parking, which for a student overnight permit is $75.</p>

<p>So lets’ talk more about what your life will be like without a car at UCLA. Quite frankly? You’ll be <b><i>fine</i></b>. You’re going to do a LOT of walking around here, so show up with comfortable walking or running shoes. Some people use bikes, skateboards, or scooters to cut their travel time. </p>

<p>UCLA is served by 16 transit routes, 13 of which run all the time (3 are weekday commuter lines). It is so so easy to get to popular entertainment destinations in Venice, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and downtown. UCLA runs a program called BruinGO!, where the co-pay with ID is just 25c on the Big Blue Bus and Culver CityBus lines. UCLA also subsidizes 50% of the quarterly pass fares for four other operators serving campus, which is great if you’ve got an off-campus internship.</p>

<p>UCLA Transportation also has this pamphlet called “U-See-LA Without a Car” that you can download from this link: [U-See-LA&lt;/a&gt; Without a Car (1003752)](<a href=“http://map.ais.ucla.edu/go/1003752]U-See-LA”>http://map.ais.ucla.edu/go/1003752)</p>

<p>I blog a lot about green commuting to UCLA at [Be</a> A Green Commuter](<a href=“http://www.beagreencommuter.com%5DBe”>http://www.beagreencommuter.com)</p>

<p>And here’s a link to our most recent Public Transit Guide: <a href=“http://www.beagreencommuter.com/blog3/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/all-in-one-transit-brochure-ucla-august2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.beagreencommuter.com/blog3/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/all-in-one-transit-brochure-ucla-august2009.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>per your quote:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>We know how restrictive it is to have a car living on campus. But we know that those who live off-campus usually have cars, and they’ll need to because life won’t be as easy as those who live on campus, with everything at their fingertips, including great and healthy food options.</p>

<p>But there are ways around the ultra-tight restrictions on cars for on-campus living. Yes, rich kids would seem to have an advantage in this regard.</p>

<p>But as BrownParent said, to see LA, you’re going to need a car. Public transportation isn’t going to work in many situations. Befriend those (legitmately) who have cars.</p>