<p>My daughter will be attending Cornell this fall and we are not sure what to do in terms of transportation and was hoping to get some advice from people who have first hand experience.</p>
<p>We live in a very rural area and a car is a must. Also, as silly as this may sound to some, there is no public transportation in this area at all so we have zero experience with it.</p>
<p>My daughter has vistied Cornell and said that she thinks she will be able to get around fine using buses, etc. We live about 18 hrs. from Cornell and have no family in the area. Anytime she has to fly home, she will have to take a bus to airports. Anytime she wants to go anywhere she will have to use buses, public transportation of some sort.</p>
<p>I know getting around campus won't be a problem, but what about Ithaca itself or surrounding areas. </p>
<p>She was convinced she didn't need to take her car. Too much trouble finding parking, paying for parking, etc. and is fine with using buses, etc. if needed. However, I have been reading some other threads where people have been talking about how difficult it can be without one.</p>
<p>So just looking for advice from students, former students, parents of students, etc. She would really like to not have to take one, but I worry about her getting around the area and to and from airports.</p>
<p>D1 had a car in high school. She went to Cornell without a car initially. She was able to get around in Ithaca without a car, by riding the bus or call for taxi sometimes. But since she had a car at home, she took it up with her after Thanksgiving. She got a parking spot at a fraternity - they charge a small amount of money, but I think she got it for free. The car made it quite easy for her to drive herself home. After the first year, she parked her car at her sorority house or at her off campus apartment parking lot. I think parking at one of those lots was 150-200/month.</p>
<p>D2 is going to Cornell this fall. She is not going to have a car because she can´t drive. I think she will be fine because she could take the bus or call for a cab.</p>
<p>Beautiful autumn. It has 4 seasons. D1 loved going back to Cornell in Aug because summers are very nice too. We were there for the graduation, and the lake was gorgeous. We spent few days up there.</p>
<p>I also recommend that your daughter start college without a car–and then see. Unless it changes for next year, first-year students get to ride the TCAT buses for free, while there are discounts on fares in subsequent years. Most freshmen do not have cars, and most of what students need is within walking distance. It is also possible to walk to downtown Ithaca! There are van services & taxis to get to the airports, and a bus leaves every day to NYC from in front of the Statler.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. From what everyone has said I think she will be o.k. without a car the first year and then we can go from there depending on the circumstances. Thanks again for the input.</p>
Very true … the Commons are about a mile from central campus … the catch is getting back to campus; it’s still only a mile but it’s a serious uphill climb. I never had a car at Cornell and it was never an issue as I walked or rode a bike everywhere other than trying to get to airports (which was 2-3 times total in 4 years) … although to be fair I never headed to malls which would have involved buses.</p>
<p>I would say it depends on if she is going to be living on or off campus. I am a junior at Cornell living off-campus without a meal plan. I lived my first two years on North and then West campus both years with meal plans. I never really needed a car at that time, but it would have been a bit nicer (however not worth the cost). Now, I am off-campus and do frequent grocery shopping, going out on “adventures” and other kinds of things – and having a car is really convenient and useful and definitely worth the cost. It also provides that extra level of freedom – I can go from A to B whenever and don’t need to sit and wait an hour for a cab. The cabs in Ithaca are late, fairly often rude drivers and confusing on the phone. </p>
<p>To sum up my advice is: off campus (car), on campus (no car).</p>
<p>As a freshman living on campus with a meal plan, she shouldn’t need a car. I’d recommend a car when you drop her off so you can load up her dorm with all the necessities and stock her up on heavy things like some snacks and beverages. Freshman get to ride the bus for free and the buses in Ithaca are excellent. They’re usually on schedule and are very convenient on campus.</p>
<p>definitely unnecessary to have a car as a freshman. there’s no reason for it, and parking is extremely expensive. you can get around campus and surrounding areas (commons, movie theater, mall, target, etc.) easily using the bus, and freshman have free bus passes. tons of people take buses or taxis to the airport.</p>
<p>when you move off campus a car becomes very useful for groceries and things like that, but as you get older you also get to know more people and can finagle your way to cheaper parking (i.e. cheap frat parking) rather than paying the ridiculous school lot prices.</p>