Cheapest way to commute?

irishdub14

Hey, I'm a new first year student at trinity this year and I'm wondering what's the cheapest way to commute into the college every day. I'm close to a bus route and dart station but I know absolutely nothing about bus passes or leap cards etc... So would it be cheaper to buy a leap card or something else??! What do current students use to commute in?

Thanks for any info!

chocksaway

where are you coming from?

Ash_M

If you decide to get a bus, the 30 day student ticket is your only man. It's a chunk of cash to get - 86 quid at the moment - but it gets you 30 days, and crucially, this is non-consecutive, so if you're only using it on weekdays, it'll last you 6 weeks. It makes sense to use it if you're getting 2 or more buses in a day, (you can get as many as you like once you've scanned on) but if I'm only getting the one I just pay for it and save the day.

languagenerd

The Leap card is NOT cheaper than a student weekly or monthly ticket, but it is handy to have if your ticket has run out (you won't need to have correct change for busses etc.) or if you're using a different method of transport than normal (i.e. if you have a bus ticket but you need to use the Luas one day).

BUT DON'T BUY ONE YET, because my brother brought home a form for the new Student Travelcards today and it appears that the new Travelcards ARE Leap Cards too (they're a two-in-one). You HAVE to buy a Travelcard in order to get the student tickets, so buy that during Freshers Week and then you'll have a Leap Card too.

(Quite annoyed because I have an old Travelcard and a Leap Card, should have waited before buying the Leap one!)

Basically then you can buy student bus/train tickets, but if you need the Leap Card for whatever reason, you can just load money onto the Travelcard et voila! http://studenttravelcard.ie/Libraries/Documents/Click_2.sflb.ashx

mathew

languagenerd wrote: »

The Leap card is NOT cheaper than a student weekly or monthly ticket, but it is handy to have if your ticket has run out (you won't need to have correct change for busses etc.) or if you're using a different method of transport than normal (i.e. if you have a bus ticket but you need to use the Luas one day).

BUT DON'T BUY ONE YET, because my brother brought home a form for the new Student Travelcards today and it appears that the new Travelcards ARE Leap Cards too (they're a two-in-one). You HAVE to buy a Travelcard in order to get the student tickets, so buy that during Freshers Week and then you'll have a Leap Card too.

(Quite annoyed because I have an old Travelcard and a Leap Card, should have waited before buying the Leap one!)

Basically then you can buy student bus/train tickets, but if you need the Leap Card for whatever reason, you can just load money onto the Travelcard et voila! http://studenttravelcard.ie/Libraries/Documents/Click_2.sflb.ashx

Just run your current leap card down, when it has nothing left on it, return it and get you €5 back. Its just a deposit. Then use your travel card as your leapcard

languagenerd

mathew wrote: »

Just run your current leap card down, when it has nothing left on it, return it and get you €5 back. Its just a deposit. Then use your travel card as your leapcard

Didn't realise they'd give me back the €5. Anyway, I'm not that stingy :P, it just would have been handier if I'd realised that earlier. It's a good idea to combine the two Wonder if they'll bring in Student Rates for the Leap Card in time? There was talk of it a while back...

Maybe_Memories

Actually the leap card can be cheaper than the 30 day card thing depending on how much your bus actually costs. Mine is only 1.40 each way so say 2.80 a day if I actually stay in college for the day which works out at €84 euro for 6 weeks if only used on week days... I know there's a lot of ifs there but hey, I'll save 2 euro....

PurpleFistMixer

Obligatory: "What about cycling?"

Chuchoter

I permanently get overcharged on the leap card. 30 day ticket ftw.

mathew

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

Obligatory: "What about cycling?"

But...

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

Obligatory: "What about cycling?"

Cycling, what about feckin' walking?

Posh Dublin fcukers. :mad:

irishdub14

Thanks for replies guys, very helpful and much appreciated!

deccurley wrote: »

Cycling, what about feckin' walking?

Posh Dublin fcukers. :mad:

My house is about a 2 hour's walk from the campus.

PurpleFistMixer

deccurley wrote: »

Posh Dublin fcukers. :mad:

Living within walking distance is the posh option here surely.

languagenerd

Maybe_Memories wrote: »

Actually the leap card can be cheaper than the 30 day card thing depending on how much your bus actually costs. Mine is only 1.40 each way so say 2.80 a day if I actually stay in college for the day which works out at €84 euro for 6 weeks if only used on week days... I know there's a lot of ifs there but hey, I'll save 2 euro....

Ah ok, my Luas is €2.40 each way and the Luas tickets are consecutive days so it'd be far more expensive for me!

Moral of the story:Check out how many stages you're travelling first. Oh, and consider whether or not you'll be using it at the weekends

spurious

Get the bus and use a Travel 90.