By Shaaranki Kulenthirarasa

Over the past month, The Eyeopener has been on the hunt for students with the longest, most convoluted, headache-inducing commutes. It’s a well-known fact that Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is a commuter-heavy campus. According to a 2019 study by StudentMoveTO, 77 per cent of TMU students commute and the average duration of that commute was 66.9 minutes on local and regional transit. In fact, TMU had the second-longest commute amongst 10 universities across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

The Eye took to the web to poll over 100 students on what their trek to campus looks like. Here, we publish the top three craziest commutes. 

Jake Gorman-Ferguson from Port Hope, Ont.

3In third place is Jake Gorman-Ferguson, a second-year business management student. It takes him nearly two hours to get to campus from Port Hope, Ont., over 100 km from Toronto. Not only that, but he needs to pre-book his transit due to fluctuating prices. Directly from Port Hope, Gorman-Ferguson takes a FlixBus to Union Station—totalling an hour and 30 minutes. Then, he takes the subway to TMU Station which takes five to 10 minutes. However, on his way back to Port Hope from Toronto, Gorman-Ferguson takes VIA Rail which he said he books up to two weeks in advance to avoid high prices. 

“If I forget to book, it could range from $40 to $70, if I book it a day before,” he said. By booking it two weeks in advance, Gorman-Ferguson said he can get to Port Hope for around $20.

Due to the distance and fluctuations in price, Gorman-Ferguson finds himself staying at friends’ homes throughout the week and tends to only go home on Saturdays. 

“Luckily, I was extroverted in [my] first year, and I met a ton of people [who let me stay at their homes]. If I wasn’t, I’d still [be commuting every day] and my bank account would be drained,” he said. 

Lindsay Mcgregor from Barrie, Ont. 

2In second place is first-year biomedical sciences student Lindsay Mcgregor. Mcgregor travels approximately two and a half hours to get to campus from Barrie, Ont. She starts her commute by driving to the Barrie GO station which she said takes up to 25 minutes. Then she takes the GO train to Downsview Park Station which takes an hour and 13 minutes. Finally, she takes Line 1 to TMU Station which should take around 40 minutes. However, she said due to delays, it can take up to an hour. 

Despite having the option to take the GO train directly to Union which “shave[s] off around 30 minutes” from her commute, Mcgregor said she takes stops at Downsview Park to cut down on costs. 

Due to her long commute, Mcgregor skips her Wednesday class. She said it’s a two-hour lecture and it takes her longer than that to get to campus.  

“It doesn’t feel worth the time, the money or how tired it makes me,” she said. 

Before getting to first place, here are some honourable mentions: 

HM. Haya Wahab from Mount Albert, Ont. 

Haya Wahab, a fourth-year applied mathematics student said it takes her between an hour and a half and two hours to get to campus from Mount Albert, Ont., a village in East Gwillimbury, Ont with a population of of approximately 5,000 people according to the 2021 Canadian Census Data. Wahab takes York Region Transit (YRT)’s On-Request ride-sharing service to East Gwillimbury GO. According to YRT’s website, this service is available in areas of York Region where YRT bus service is not available. Wahab said this takes her between 30 and 50 minutes. Then she rides the GO train to Union Station which she said takes her one hour and six minutes. Finally, she takes the subway to TMU Station which takes five to 10 minutes. 

If Wahab has to be on campus after 6 p.m., she said she has to take the train to Aurora GO, bus to her GO station and then take the YRT On-Request ride-sharing service to her house. 

“That is the biggest reason for me skipping classes because it is really tiring…I have been doing this for four years now, and I am still not used to it,” she wrote in The Eye’s online form.

HM. Jaylen MacMillan from Keswick, Ont. 

Jaylen MacMillan, a third-year English student, said it takes her up to two hours to get to campus. MacMillan starts her commute by driving to Aurora GO from her house which takes up to 40 minutes. From there, she catches the train to Union Station, which takes around 50 minutes. Finally, she takes the subway to TMU Station which takes five to 10 minutes. 

MacMillan said she tries to build her schedule in a way where she would commute a maximum of three times a week to prevent burnout. 

“That does mean my three days are usually completely packed…Trying to hangout with people when I get home is really hard because public transit can be very overstimulating,” she said. 

Ana Zavalza Ramirez from Kitchener, Ont. 

1Finally, in first place is Ana Zavalza Ramirez, a second-year urban and regional planning student who travels nearly three hours to get to campus. From her home to the Kitchener GO station, Zavalza Ramirez takes two buses, which takes about an hour. Then, she travels from Kitchener GO to Union Station which takes her one hour and 40 minutes. Finally, she takes the subway to TMU Station which takes around five to 10 minutes. 

Zavalza Ramirez said she tries to start her days early to prevent commuting everyday. 

“I don’t like admitting this, but it’s good that sometimes I have 8 a.m. [classes] because that means I have more time in the day to stack more classes,” she said. 

Despite having to commute for hours, relocating closer to campus is not a realistic option for these students due to an increasingly volatile Toronto rental market, as previously reported by The Eye. 

“I have considered relocating almost every day, especially while I’m on YRT, questioning my life choices. However, the cost of rent and living expenses in downtown Toronto has made me appreciate my current situation,” wrote Wahab in an email to The Eye.