As a rule I drive into university, its easier for me to travel and saves me some time, but for this post I decided to use public transport to see another option of getting there. So today I got the bus.
It started with a brisk walk to the stop in what was pleasant weather, however this turned with lots and lots of rain, thank goodness I had my brolly. The journey was more relaxing than driving and I got to campus within 30 minutes including my walk. The best advantage with the bus is that it stops closer to where I want to go on campus than I can park. While travelling in I went to the Stoke-on-Trent train station which almost on campus which can make life easier if you are commuting for further away.
Now normally I would drive, from me its two roads from my home to university, about 8 miles but my goodness it can take forever with the school and work traffic, which means I normally set off extra early. Parking at university is on a first come first served basis; no one or department has their own space. There are disabled bays at College Road and Leek Road, but without a Blue Badge you’ll probably be parking at Leek Road which is about a 5 minute walk to the other side of campus.
You’ll need a permit to park on campus, which this year cost £35 for the year, but if you have visitors then they can get a day pass by speaking to security, who are either in the ‘hut’ at leek road (office hours) or 24/7 at the security centre in Cadman building.
Taxi’s. Check out with the Students’ Union if any have been recommended to use, there were a few firms last year. Tip: If your on campus and want to travel to Hanley (City Centre) with a few of your mates then it can be cheaper to share a taxi than use the bus. But if you ever get stuck there’s always a few metered taxis waiting at the train station.
So back to the Buses! These run quite frequently (about every 5 minutes between 730 am and about 7pm from Hanley (City Centre) bus station to the university. They leave from a number of stops, but they’re all together. Look for one with the train station universal logo on, then you know you’re on the right one! The buses to and from here do run outside the times I said above also, from about 6am through to 10pm. If you use a “First Bus” their standard fair is £2, you can get a student discount if you show a valid ID. However you can always get a day ticket for £4 or weekly tickets for £16 which you can use all over Stoke-on-Trent. There’s more bus companies than first, but they don’t allow you to use a daily or weekly first pass if you’ve got one.
The train station is just around the corner, about a one minute walk away from our campus. There’s direct trains to London, Manchester, Birmingham, Derby, Crewe and beyond. Train prices, times and companies can vary from region so it’s unfair of me to comment how much they are or the times at the moment. If i’m travelling by train then I use the trainline app, to try and save some money on the ticket price, always handy if you want to travel somewhere for as little as possible.
Every penny counts as a student, so try and get discounts! Some banks have offered rail cards, there could be something at the commercial fair on campus during your first week (last week we had train and bus companies offering discounts)
Leave a Reply