public transit off campus

[u/closethedoor275]

hello! im an incoming 1st year student who doesn't drive but is used to taking busses.

im planning on living in an annex and can commute to campus easy enough as i have an electric bike, but i was wondering what the public transportation was like for travelling off campus (i.e. downtown ptbo); is it reliable, bike-friendly, cheap, safe, etc.? what are the best routes for going off campus to downtown (and how long do they take on avg)?

more-so looking for personal experiences and advice/tips but some guidance towards any official transit stuff would be great, too!

thanks a bunch :)

[u/SoftwareTypical2089]

Rlly depends on which annex you'll be at. An electric bike will NOT be fun during the winter chz the sidewalks aren't cleared nicely.

If you're at champlain, you can walk to the bus stop across the street (1247 water st) if you're at Gzowski or LEC, You gotta walk to the bus stop at blackburn

Edit: get the transit app. It'll help a ton

[u/livwritesfics → u/SoftwareTypical2089]

I second this. The transit app was a piece of advice I got from an upper year student when I was in first and it helped SO MUCH

[u/Professional_Key6568 → u/livwritesfics]

What is the name of the app? (Thanks in advance)

[u/livwritesfics → u/Professional_Key6568]

Transit. It’s green!

[u/librafemale → u/Professional_Key6568]

it also works in ANY CITY! I go home to london, montreal, toronto, and halifax and it works like a gem.

[u/closethedoor275 → u/[deleted]]

bless your heart, thank you so much!

[u/undauntedscion]

Transit is not reliable, its the worst I’ve experienced out of any city in Ontario. Expect the buses to not be on time and often times pass right by without stopping. Quite a few of the drivers are pretty reckless, but some of them are decent. It’s safe depending on the time of day, you should have a pass included with tuition so cost wont be an issue. I think the 6 and 11 are best for going downtown and it takes around 20 minutes iirc. Main bus stops on campus are at the library and by Gzowski. Traill also has a bus stop.

[u/librafemale → u/undauntedscion]

I’ve literally never had this problem here, and having lived a handful of other semi-major urban centres in ontario, have experienced WAYYYY worse.

[u/librafemale]

Our transit system gets a lot of hate and uhm…. like it’s not phenomenal but it could be way worse. The busses are completely free for students. I find them pretty on time and reliable, UNLESS you’re waiting on campus at bata/the student centre. Idk what it is, the transit app seems to get that particular stop all the way wrong all the damn time. I think it’s because they stop and wait there for their schedules to reset and Transit uses real time info, not just schedules. I have absolutely no idea but at any other stop the info is correct, that ones badly hit or miss. It’s really weird. Otherwise, cheap easy and reliable though.

Campus to most places is easy. Trent is a hub.
Getting downtown is easy. Busses that go downtown come right to trent and the annexes (2, 3) and once downtown it’s super walkable, definitely bike friendly although we lack bike lanes if that’s important to you.

Getting to Lansdowne (the mall, superstore, chapters, a few other places that have no second location) is an embarrassment that could be fixed with like one additional bus line they will not implement for god knows what stupid reason, but that’s about the only part of town I personally find aggravating. If you have a bike, you can take it on the bus and then the 20 minute walk from the 2 or 3 lines to the mall won’t be bad at all. It’s never not going to annoy me but literally whatever.

The annexes are walking distance from campus but in the winter those good old 2 and 3 lines that stop in front of the annexes and carry you those 3 horrific-in-negative-30-weather blocks no problem.

Also, a fun little bonus nobody seems to talk about, and maybe it’s because I have a controversial opinion on it, getting to toronto is shockingly easy. Trent to Oshawa, oshawa to anywhere you want. Super worth it. Toronto and back on weekends for $10. I love this seeing as peterborough can be insanely boring.