Thursday, September 13, 2012

Walking Journal #5


PROMPT: For post #5 I want you to investigate transportation in your neighborhood.  How do you get around? What obstacles do you face? What kinds of transportation are available to you? Do you ever use public transportation? Who does? Do you wish public transportation was better in our area? How so? What good would it do?

Transportation. Around campus, I rely on my feet to take me from place to place. The walk from my dorm to class is generally only a five or so minute walk. I enjoy walking through campus: meeting friends on the way to class, wandering through the rose gardens or just appreciating the beauty of campus. For the University, walking is my chosen mode of transportation and serves me well. There aren’t really any downsides to walking through the campus: the way I see it, I get exercise while I enjoy the scenery on my way to class.

On campus, walking is, in my opinion, the best way to get around. Sure there are other ways, like biking and skateboarding, but they aren’t really necessary, at least not for me. There is the option of driving, of course, but there just isn’t a need to drive around the campus, not to mention that most of the people I’ve met here don’t have their own cars. However, if the need arises to travel off campus, walking is not a valid option for me. As I’ve mentioned, my neighborhood, the area I feel comfortable in, stops abruptly to the left of my dorm: the infamous Downtown Reno. Walking, while sufficiently carries me around campus, has met its limitation.

Of course, there is always public transportation. Recently, I’ve run into quite the conundrum with transportation in Reno: for my volunteer work for the Honors Program, I need to get to a location in Reno. Unfortunately, the only bus routes that will take me to my destination require that I walk through Downtown in order to get the bus stop. This makes me wish that Reno had a better system of public transportation. The benefits of a good public transportation system are infinite: not only does it allow people to easily travel through the town, but it’s a good way to help the environment by reducing the amount of cars on the road and therefore reducing carbon dioxide output.

Transportation at the University is really a matter of preference. Whether you’re like me and enjoy walking the familiar paths, or choose a method of biking or skateboarding to class, transportation on campus is no problem. The only issue arises when transportation off campus becomes a necessity. While there is a system of public transportation, it could be greatly improved. 

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