ssues & ideas EDITOR MARY BEACH THE VOICE, THURSDAY, FEB.19, 2015 7 Oh, how merrily we all roll along Whether it’s one, two, four or even six wheels, transportation is a real trip at Langara Ready, set, go! And they’re off: The Voice transit challenge checks out which is fastest: car, bus or bicycle By JOCELYN ASPA AND OWEN MUNRO ith the proposed transit tax and transit improvement plan in mind, Langara Col- lege journalism students staged a challenge to find out which is the fastest way to get to school: car, bi- cycle or transit? The starting point was Knight Street and 49th Avenue. The time was 7:45 a.m. for three challengers: Bryan Mc Govern travelling by bus, Sara Rabey by car and Anna Dimoff on bicycle. Mc Govern, bus challenger, started waiting at his stop at 7:45 a.m. The bus was crowded and Mc Govern didn’t score a seat but since there are only two stops between Knight Street and Langara, it wasn’t long before he could get out of the bus and walk to class. For Mc Govern, the total time from waiting for the bus to arriving in class was 13 minutes and 10 seconds. Rabey, car challenger, had to travel through five lights, and was stopped at two: Fraser and Main Streets. Traffic was light so she made it to the Langara College library parking lot in five min- utes. It was early and there were plenty of spaces. Paying for parking and walk- ing to class took another seven min- utes. For Rabey, in the car, door-to-door travel time was 12 minutes. Dimoff, bike challenger, got on her bike at 49th Avenue and rode down to 45th because it’s a bike route. She had to stop at two lights: Fraser and Main Streets. She crossed at 49th Avenue. It took just minutes to lock up the bike and get to class. Dimoff, on the bike, had a total travel time of 11 minutes, winning by a nar- row margin of just one minute. ,” nate JOCELYN ASPA photo Anna Dimoff, Langara journalism student, prepares for the transit challenge at Knight Street and 49th Avenue. It’s a beautiful day to bike to school, so the ride should be puddle free. Transit tax may put the squeeze on pocket change ALEXANDER HOEGLER photo Convenience store bulk candy costs just a few cents. The spare change jangling in your pocket could add up to some minor extrava- gances By ALEXANDER HOEGLER ment tax is approved, it will raise the Provincial Sales Tax by 0.5 per cent, costing an average household 35 cents a day, according to Mayor Gregor Rob- ertson. It doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up. Creative shoppers on Marine Drive and on Langara campus can buy a lot. For example, in a week, 35 cents a day becomes $2.45, and you can buy: - Five packages of powdered punch drink at Superstore - 25 grams of mohair yarn in Killar- ney from Craigslist I: the proposed congestion improve- - One McDouble - One double-shot espresso at Lolli- pop Moment - In a month, 35 cents a day adds up to $10.50, and a potential shopping spree on Langara campus: - One Pierre Belvedere pencil case at the Langara Bookstore - 12 greeting cards - One Alumni mug from the Langara Bookstore - One Nigiri Combo at the Langara Sushi Café If you save 35 cents every day for a year, it adds up to $127.75, and you can treat yourself to: - Vancouver Canucks against the To- ronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, March 14th in Section 328 - One bottle of Barbaresco Vietti Masseria red wine - Two-night stay at the Quality Inn Vancouver Hotel at 725 SE Marine Drive 30 CENTS cheap thrills 1 A Vess cola from the dollar store 2 A sour key candy from the conve- nience store 3 Three sticky notes at the Langara Bookstore Driving costly but cushy Driving to school remains popular even as carpool- ing and car share partici- pation wanes By MICHAEL LYLYK portation options for Langara Col- lege students to get to school, cam- pus parking lots indicate that driving is still popular. “Between transit, carpool, car share, cycling and walking, we have a pretty good mix of commuting options for stu- dents to choose from,” said Raymond Yeung, Langara’s facilities services co- ordinator. Yeung hopes the popularity of car share programs such as car2go and Zipear, will help decrease single occu- pancy traffic to school parking lots. Public transit has become more pop- ular than the school’s carpool and car EF though there are many trans- share programs thanks to the im- r4 4 plementation of the U-Pass. Allin all The U-Pass pro- gram was approved We would in 2011 afteraLan- Jike to see gara Students’ . Union referendum. SU1Q le oc- Langara psy- cupancy chology — student traffic continue to Donna Dunn says it’s about finances more than any- thing. Parking and decrease fuel fees are pro- On Campus hibitive in addition to her internation- © RAYMOND YEUNG al student fees. For LANGARA'S her, having a car is FACILITIES a luxury and she SERVICES would rather uti- COORDINATOR lize her transit pass, which is included in her student fees. Cycling is another option, but it los- es popularity in the rainy season. Alex Steel, a Langara computer sci- ence student, said, “Whenever the weather is good enough,” he said. “To- day was actually the first time in a while.” MICHAEL LYLYK photo Unicycle parked at a campus rack.