Without their own cars, students find new ways to get around Kent

Students have a variety of ways to get to campus. Though some may see driving as more convienent, biking, walking and taking the bus are among the most popular alternatives. GAVIN JACKSON | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: Jason Hall

Corey Cox took a taxi to class Tuesday morning.

He has no car because he’s waiting to have it shipped from Oklahoma, which will generate a bill he said he’s not looking forward to paying.

“My transfer (to Kent State) was last minute, so I didn’t have time to find a way to bring my car,” the sophomore psychology major said.

The University of Tulsa recruited Cox to play football, but he said he didn’t like the atmosphere of the small private school and he transferred to Kent State during the summer. He plays corner for the football team, but has to sit the season out because he is a transfer student.

Cox, who is originally from Denver, said he’s been in Kent for training for more than a month. Now that the semester is in session, he has been staying in a hotel about two miles from campus.

“It’s too far to walk, but not too far to drive,” he said.

Some days, he’s able to ride with friends. Other days, like Tuesday, he calls a taxi to bring him to and from his hotel. He has an apartment downtown lined up, he’s just waiting to sort out the details.

Sophomore exploratory major Jaime Navratil has also taken a taxi to get around Kent.

“We went out this weekend to Whitehall Terrace, which is really far from campus, so we used that $2 taxi,” she said. “It was such a good idea.”

Navratil and her friends used the Go2Go taxi service, which launched shortly before the semester began. For $2, it provides quick and easy transportation in an attempt to minimize alcohol-related dangers, according to its Web site.

Navratil has a car, but it’s at home. She said there aren’t many places she goes with her friends that she would have to drive to. If they do want to go somewhere, she has a few friends with cars on campus.

“It’s definitely different than being at home with a car,” she said. “It’s a lot of walking, but I like it. A car would give me an excuse to be lazy.”

Sophomore marketing major Sydney Bennett said without a car, she always has to ask friends for rides. She said she rides buses occasionally, but it’s inconvenient because they don’t run late enough.

“I always feel like a burden asking people for a ride or to borrow a car, but most of my friends understand,” she said.

At home, Bennett shared a car with her father, who worked at night. During the day she could use the car but at night, when she wanted to go out, her father needed it.

“Even if I did have a car on campus, where I would have to park is so far away,” she said.

For Maureen McCoy, a freshman criminal justice major, not having a car on campus means more than having to find new ways to get around. At home, she and her friends used their cars to go “house-kicking.”

“Seven or eight of my friends would get in a car and we would all go out and run up to a house. Someone would kick the house and everyone had to run back into the car,” she said. “Someone stayed in the car to open all the doors for us.”

When they weren’t kicking houses, she said she and her friends would take turns carpooling so one person never got stuck always having to drive everyone around.

“I’m used to leaving whenever I want,” McCoy said. “Now I have to find different ways to get places.”

Contact student life reporter Theresa Bruskin at [email protected].