Commuters have been a staple on Main Campus since the university’s inception. Not until recently — the last 20 years — has much of the student population started living in neighborhoods surrounding campus.
Yet, recently The Temple News has heard complaints about the lack of available space for students who commute. A new policy that doesn’t allow commuters to stand in the aisles of the shuttle buses between Main and Ambler campuses has also thrown some who depend on that service for a loop.
“There is a certain level of anxiety because it could happen any day,” Thomas Roof, a senior English major, told The Temple News about the new policy. “There isn’t a pattern.”
Earlier in the semester, locks were cut off the daily lockers in the commuter lounge, affecting students who were leaving belongings overnight — against the lounge’s policy.
While we recognize some students were not following the rules, we also sympathize with commuting students.
“It’s hard being a commuter, carrying bags all the time and bringing stuff in,” said Caroline Jones, a junior marketing major. There is a lack of adequate spaces available to commuters on Main Campus. And making it to campus every week for classes already requires an extra effort from commuters.
A Temple spokesman told a Temple News columnist this week that an average of 275 people use the commuter lounge each day.
Nearly 24 percent of Temple students report that they sometimes commute using SEPTA Regional Rail, according to a survey conducted by the university’s Office of Sustainability.
We hope the university can make an extra effort to aid in the comfort of these students who go the extra mile to get their education.
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