When you think about the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, you may think of beautiful structures and kayaking opportunities, however, you may not think of waking up at 6am to attend your 8pm class. You probably also don’t think about the 55-minute drive to get to class. You may also forget about the ‘taking the bus’ option to get to campus, which comes at the lovely cost of $2.50 each time you hop on the bus.
The Biscayne campus is filled with opportunities for growth, a chance to increase FIU’s ranking and make FIU a better place. Despite this, there are also a lot of chances for improvement, especially in regards to the students who feel obligated to commute every single day.
For most of the students studying communications, marine biology, and hospitality, to mention a few, it is required to take their classes either at the Biscayne Bay Campus or online due to the lack of availability for classes in the Modesto Maidique Campus. This could be really comfortable for students who live near Biscayne, but for those of us that aren’t that lucky, it means two things; either take the bus from MMC or drive.
The bus from MMC takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour, even more when subject to rush hour, and has a cost per ride. For a day of going to BBC, you are looking at spending $5. Five dollars doesn’t seem like a big number until you realize that it’s $5 multiplied by every day of the week. The simple $5 turns into at least a hundred dollars a month. Even deciding to drive comes at a cost. You have to spend money on gas and toll, not to mention all the miles you’re adding to your car.
Sometimes, the total time it takes a student to get to BBC is more than the time their actual class lasts.
This is a very big problem that needs a solution, and fast. At the end of the day, both FIU students, those at BBC and those at MMC, should feel the same sort of comfort and ease while choosing classes and majors.