Carpooling tool could help students avoid the speed bumps of commuting
A resource that helps reduce carbon emissions and make your daily trip to campus easier is not as well known as it could be.
The Metrolinx Smart Commute Tool is used to encourage free, sustainable transportation options for Humber students, faculty and staff. Smart Commute can be accessed via computer, tablet or smartphone. Users can register an account online and input their destination and starting points. The tool will search for other users that are going in the same direction and will allow you to communicate with your match through the tool.
The program was recently re-launched in September 2014. Now the program can play the dual role easing your daily commute. Jagoda Rozbicka, director of programs and communications for Smart Commute said the tool is an advanced version of its predecessor and should attract more users.
“Obviously carpooling would reduce the traffic congestion that’s happening on the road,” said Rozbicka.
Some recent operational changes in Toronto could affect how Humber and Guelph-Humber students get to and from campus. These include fair hikes by the TTC that were recently proposed in the Toronto operating budget.
The option to carpool seems more and more tempting, especially with the number of students, staff and faculty from Humber North campus, including Guelph-Humber, that drive and take transit to the school through the week.
“Basically the busses are packed,” said Guelph-Humber student Dani Benrubi. “It makes a huge difference positively on making it a faster commute and less worrying about travel.”
In a 2013 Smart Commute survey of Humber College students, over 80 per cent of students got to school by transit or driving. The majority of these students also said they travel to campus five days a week.
Humber student Aizenosa Iginua is one of many that make the daily trip and says that she understands why carpooling could be beneficial to students.
“It takes forever to get to school and work to begin with,” said Iginua. “[The Smart Commute Tool] is a clever idea because we all need to get to school somehow and this might make it easier.”
The Smart Commute survey also found that 70 per cent of students have around half an hour commute time to campus and a third are traveling more than an hour.
The program is not limited to commuting to and from campus specifically. “The start point and the destination point can be anything,” said Rozbicka.
“Say one day you want to go from school to a friend’s house, you can go onto the Smart Commute tool and it will show you a Google map,” she said. “And it will also provide you matches with people who are going the same way.”
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