Three Skyline students who wait at the school bus stop after day classes have difficulties using public transit to commute to and from campus. Throughout the semester, students who use public transportation at Skyline have been complaining that without a car, commuting to campus is often difficult.
SamTrans, Skyline’s only form of public transportation, has one bus stop on campus outside of building two. Every day, hundreds of students commute to Skyline and back home using SamTrans public transit bus lines; 121, 123 and 140, which all connect to BART stations.
Joyce Lum, a San Francisco native and first year student who attends Skyline College may perhaps have the most difficult commute and at a costly price. Without having a car to drive, Lum takes the three different forms of public transportation; San Francisco MUNI, BART and SamTrans to get to campus every day. She believes transportation wouldn’t be a problem if she just attended her local community college, the City College of San Francisco.
“The reason I come to Skyline is because I can’t get the classes I want at City (College of San Francisco)” says Lum. “I have no choice but to commute over here on my own.”
Having to take MUNI, BART and SamTrans, Lum spends over $13 per day commuting to campus and back home. The costly transportation leaves Lum with no choice.
“This is where my allowance money goes to; I’m lucky if I can ever get a ride from my friends, but I hardly ever do.”
Sevhel Raquipiso, a third year student at Skyline, is a Daly City native and has been riding the SamTrans buses to commute since he first started Skyline. Although it only takes Raquipiso approximately a 25 minute ride and one SamTrans bus to commute to school, he finds it rough to ride in the afternoons.
“The buses don’t always come on time. I stay in school after 2:00; the bus is less crowded and I’m able to get a seat.”
If you fear the cost of public transportation is too much, it’s advised that you purchase a Clipper Card, a transit card which works on all Bay Area public transportation. A Clipper Card allows you to load the amount of money before hand for all of your transportation needs. For those having a hard time taking public transportation to Skyline, it’s advised that you try car pooling with friends or other Skyline students.
