<p>I've heard split responses from people I know that attend UT Austin. Do the majority of freshmen living on campus bring their own cars, or do they just take the public transportation system within the campus?</p>
<p>You’re right - it is pretty split. Personally I like having my car here because it makes me feel safe and I like knowing if I ever want to ■■■■ I can just turn on the ignition and book it. I don’t have to wait for a bus or risk getting lost or anything. </p>
<p>It really does vary – but if you wanted like statistics; you might just try calling the UT Parking people.</p>
<p>I live close by, but my parent’s didn’t want to pay for my car to be parked. I ride the bus to my mom’s office if I want to go home, but I feel pretty restricted without it. They have buses to take you to most places like the mall or other parts of downtown, but I wish I had my car.</p>
<p>Well if you bring your car, your going to have to ride the bus to get to your car unless you pay a lot for a garage permit.</p>
<p>The public transportation system at UT and in Austin is very convenient and inexpensive. We offered our D a car after her first year on campus and she turned us down…didn’t want the headache of finding parking and hassling traffic.</p>
<p>She has an off-campus internship about 20 minutes away three days a week and is quite comfortable taking the bus.</p>
<p>Students ride free on Capital Metro Buses all over Austin.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to pay to have your car here, the bus isn’t a bad option at all. It comes pretty frequently and it is free as opposed to paying money to park a car and paying for gas. I just wish I had my car so I could go to places around my house more often.</p>
<p>I think that the majority (over 50%) of the 8000 students who live on campus do NOT have cars on campus, but plenty of people who live in the dorms have cars. (I think that students from Austin itself are more likely to have access to a car at home than to have a car parked on campus.) </p>
<p>I think that the majority (over 50%) of the students who live in private dorms like The Castilian or Scottish Rite DO have cars - anyone else have thoughts on that?</p>
<p>Public transportation is really good.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman and I have a car parked in a parking garage. It’s VERY expensive, but luckily the cost was kind of offset by all the scholarship money I got. I think it’s rather convenient. I mean, with public transportation, you’re at the mercy of the bus schedule, which is liable to run late, etc., etc… which is not to say that the bus system isn’t a great thing (the eBus is magically wonderful). I had actually planned on leaving mine at home but my parents insisted that I take it because I’m so far from home. </p>
<p>SOME SOUND ADVICE THOUGH: if you do bring a car and park it in a garage, do NOT leave the garage during a home game (even if you’re in one of the garages where you’re not required to move) because you won’t be able to get back in and you’ll have to drive around in the hellish traffic on campus ■■■■■■■■ for empty parking spots for hours. =/</p>
<p>:( im sorry to hear buriedalie! lol do you have brazos or sanjac? i could imagine. :(</p>
<p>Nope, TSG. I was sooo frustrated.</p>
<p>I agree with sasha2014, I love having my car. It is very expensive (1070 for dobie) but I like having the freedom of being able to go home anytime I want and enjoy all austin has to offer off campus without the hassle of public transportation. </p>
<p>But if you are the type to be satisfied staying on campus for recreation and eating etc. and don’t mind operating on someone else’s schedule to go home then you would be fine without a car</p>
<p>and after 10…10:50 is it? the ut busses stop running which really sucks if youre on the other side of campus from where you need to be. </p>
<p>(ive taken a taxi before LOL. its only $7-10 if you really need to get a taxi haha)</p>
<p>The thing I notice about people who bring cars is that they don’t really ride the buses that aren’t connected to UT or the E bus. </p>
<p>I don’t have a car and I’ve been here for 2 and a half years and I go off campus more than my friends who have cars. I’m pretty sure I’ve been everywhere you can go on a bus in Austin, except for Riverside. So just because you don’t have a car does NOT mean you are trapped or have to be “satisfied staying on campus for recreation and eating”. I work near South Congress, Red River, South Lamar and in East Austin and I’ve had no issues taking the buses at all. I have never been late to work and I have only had three incidents with the buses and those were freshman year before I knew about the detours during game days, during a bus strike a while back and when a bus went on a detour during a marathon and didn’t tell us they were detouring. </p>
<p>Honestly paying $1000 so my car can sit around in a parking lot most of the time doesn’t really do much for me. And having to pay gas and insurance and all that mess just isn’t really worth it when you have free really good public transportation right there for you to use. </p>
<p>It’s intimidating at first learning the buses and sure I got lost a lot of times in the middle of nowhere but once you get it down it’s so easy to get around. And it’s free. And easy. And free.</p>
<p>Well I’m a freshman and I’ve yet to meet a freshman with a car…
Capital Metro sucks…but then again it’s free so I won’t complain too much.</p>
<p>omgseriously. im a freshman! w/ my car.
i just like the security of having my car. ive already gotten lost on the bus a few times lol but im not saying the bus is a bad thing; its great that we get to ride it free. i might venture to take it; i have ridden 1L/1M before.</p>
<p>but anyway, its just nice to be in control lol. i mean its like well if youre going to a party and youre going to drink then no DONT drive but if you go to a hang out with friends or something its great to have your car so you can come or go whenever the hell you want. you dont have to hitch rides or wait around a bus stop in the dark of the night.</p>
<p>but for the price of parking AND the housing costs of living on campus combined – the location is great but im going to look at off campus for next year def.</p>