<p>How difficult is it to be USC student without a car?</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman and we shipped her car.She wanted her car and we said yes. This weekend she drove with friends to Big Bear Mountain. We pay for parking and it costs$$ not only for campus but all over L.A. She says its kind of a pain to drive in L.A and find parking everywhere. I am sure her friends are happy she has a car! If you don’t bring one you will find friends that have one!!</p>
<p>I have a freshmen son. Almost everthing needed is in the campus area, and the campus is easily walkable. (also use the Trojan Chariot, this is a shameless plug for a friend). They have shuttles to airport, shopping, LA live, plus public transport. They also have Zip cars, rentals the students can get on campus a pay an hourly rate. For the Ski trip, a roomate with a car is driving. So, you will be fine without a car.</p>
<p>My freshman D is a Californian and is used to driving everywhere---- but she didn’t take her car to USC this year. She hasn’t found this to be a problem as she has friends with cars when she wants/needs to go off campus. We are not sure about next year yet-- waiting to see where she ends up living to decide about bringing the car or not-- but leaning towards leaving the car at home again.</p>
<p>I also have a freshman son from California who is without a car. He longboards all around campus, has a couple of friends with cars, and has a Zipcar membership that he really likes. He takes the USC shuttle to LA Live to see movies and has used the public bus once or twice. He has used a shuttle to get back and forth from airports. We will not send him with a car for sophomore year. The plan is for him to buy his own car in junior year if he has part time employment or an internship.</p>
<p>I’m currently at senior at SC, and have had a car with me for three out of my four years here. It really depends on what you want to do as a student. Do you need a car to enjoy/ get by living at SC? absolutely not. You’ll meet a bunch of people who have cars. There will be many org or even RA sponsored events where carpools will be provided for activities off campus. There are a bunch of eating places, a ton of food trucks, and a ralphs, superiors grocery and now a Fresh and Easy Express open walking distance from campus so you definitely don’t need a car at USC. However, if you want to experience LA for what it is, then it would be beneficial to have a car. There is always something going on in LA from broadway or cirque du soleil shows, to DJ’s and concerts, to general events that it would be useful to have a car to be able to go places whenever you want. But as previously mentioned, parking in LA is horrible! be ready to pay for parking if you’re downtown, or be prepared to walk since you may have to park far away from your final destination. (and if you’re not from LA, get ready to overcome some road rage, there are a lot of bad drivers and a lot of traffic)</p>
<p>I hope to attend USC next year as a freshmen, but as an LA native, I can say that the LA Metro buses are a great resource to take advantage of. I bus it almost everywhere since I can’t drive yet. I always take the bus to USC when I visit. I spend a lot of my time in the West Hollywood area and there are buses everywhere. Downtown as well.</p>
<p>Isn’t the Metro Rail Line next to campus supposed to start up pretty soon?</p>
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We first visited USC when lamedaughter was a high-school junior, and the news then was that it would start up by the time lamedaughter was a sophomore in college. She’ll be graduating this May…</p>
<p>It looks ready to go, and at one point last Fall there were indications it was going to open soon, but nothing so far. It will be very convenient (for the students who come after lamedaughter…) when it does open.</p>
<p>Son is freshman from NC without a car. The zip car membership is key if you want to go to beach or a weekend get away and the cars are very reasonable price wise. They have to be reserved ahead of time and can be booked online. For example, when I visited him, he reserved a zip car(Audi A3) and he drove to us Palms Springs for weekend --it was cheaper than me renting a car. Otherwise, there are others with cars and shuttle to LA live is great. The campus cruisers are also really nice and they shuttle students from frat row and nearby houses. He plans to take his car across country for his sophomore year because he wants to get a job but it really isn’t neccessary 99% of the time. Congrats and good luck!</p>
<p>The exposition line(new light rail line by campus) is in pre-revenue testing stage finally which means 3-4 weeks and it will be open.</p>