Having just turned 22, however, my Pop Card is now (unsurprisingly) invalid. What was costing me around £3 a day is now £5.70 – a sharp increase to say the least.
Now, I must admit until this point, I was oblivious to the student season ticket option for use on the Metro. Priced at £55.80 for four weeks – payable in one instalment – it is a cheaper option than the Pop Card I had previously been using. Yet, over a single year, even this cheapest option culminates in a staggering total of over £725 on transport just to get to and from campus.
As full-time students, it is expected that we spend 40 hours studying every week. While only some of those hours are timetabled university sessions, we are also encouraged to spend our independent studying time making use of on-campus facilities and libraries. But how can we make the most of these if we cannot afford to travel to campus? And with public transport in the Northeast facing a hike in ticket prices amid government talks to axe funding for buses, it seems the problem may be about to get a whole lot worse.
Simply offering subsidisation of the costs may suffice, or perhaps even arrangements with local councils to ensure free access to public transport for those possessing a valid student ID would not be out of the question
This then poses the question – should universities themselves be doing more to ensure students’ presence on campus by offering aid with transport costs? If it is a case of how this could be done, there are a handful of ways that spring to mind straight off the bat. Simply offering subsidisation of the costs may suffice, or perhaps even arrangements with local councils to ensure free access to public transport for those possessing a valid student ID would not be out of the question. Northumbria University already provides free travel between its two campuses, yet this system still works under the assumption students can afford to travel to one of these campuses in the first place. Newcastle, on the other hand, does not offer any aid towards transport.
What the issue here is really addressing, however, is much greater than having to cough up twice as much for the Metro. Financial aid for students is simply not good enough. At a time when prices are going up in the current cost of living crisis, student loan figures remain relatively unchanged compared to where they were three years ago. And even then, for many, the entitlement was stingy at best. It is assumed that they will be able to afford my education and all that comes with it because I have two cohabiting, working parents.
Or what is the point in offering student maintenance loans at all, if it cannot even guarantee you a bed to sleep in?
Not one single year of my student loan has even been enough to cover rent. Even as a fresher, my loan couldn’t cover the cheapest offering of university accommodation. And while I have been lucky enough to come from parents who have been willing to maintain the roof over my head – though it hasn’t come without sacrifice on their part – many do not share the same privilege. I firmly believe student maintenance loans should, at the very least, account for accommodation costs. Or what is the point in offering them at all, if it cannot even guarantee you a bed to sleep in?
With this in mind, it seems the cost of public transport is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the financial burden of students is concerned.
