As costly necessities increasingly dominate the day to day lives of California residents everywhere, Santa Clara University community members worry about one in particular—the rising price of gas.

According to the University’s Financial Aid office, the cost of commuting to the University compounds other costs such as tuition—marked at around $64,956—and the indirect commuter budget of $19,677 present in costs such as books, supplies and food.

Additionally, The London School of Economics found that 66% commuter students received a lower grade than expected due to commuting cutting into academic performance and utility of university facilities.

Tedd Vanadilok, director at the Center for Student Involvement at the University, stressed the urgency of the student situation.

“The more money you pay for gas means the less money you have for paying for food or bills or the ability to participate in school activities,” said Vanadilok. “You have to make those hard choices of ‘Do I want to pay for gas?’ or ‘Do I want to have a fun trip this weekend?’ or ‘Should I pay for membership dues to be in this club?’ It doesn’t even need to be activities; it could be classes. There’s less money to contribute to buy supplies and for science classes, there’s lab fees or lab supplies like in organic chemistry where you might need something like a kit. Those are difficult choices a student must make.”

William Sundstrom, associate dean of faculty at the Leavey School of Business, offered insight to what’s behind the economics of Californian gas.

“We do have higher gasoline prices, so the tax per gallon is higher in California than in other states,” Sundstrom said, “We have special formulas that have to do with air pollution control regulations in the state along with some characteristics of the market in terms of getting crude oil to refineries makes gas a little bit more expensive to refine. There’s kind of a mystery gap that causes for unexplained reasons California’s gas prices to rise even when you take account of taxes, special formulas, etc.”

Sundstrom factored transit as a contributor to rising gas prices.

“Transit intensive goods are the ones that are affected mostly,” Sundstrom examined, “We’re seeing general inflation in the U.S., some of which is maybe a significant amount of it. It is associated with rising fuel costs directly because gasoline and diesel are part of the consumer price index.”

Further, Sundstrom mentioned the impact on more susceptible commuters.

“It hits harder probably on average for people who have less means to adjust to it because it’s a bigger share of their expenditures,” Sundstrom continued, “Especially if you’re a blue or pink collar worker, you’ve got to drive across town. You don’t have the luxury of working remotely in those cases and you don’t have much income.”

For faculty at the University, especially those who live a significant distance away, the issue is especially acute.

“We’re not in a dense urban environment,” said Sundstrom,  “It’s trickier for people to get around using mass transit options but I think to the extent that we can continue to develop that transit network. I have colleagues who live in the East Bay like in Oakland and Berkeley and for them the driving commute is awful.”

Despite the dreary nature of commute pricing, Broncos are actively attempting to circumvent the problem.

“I think a more common question we get isn’t necessarily related to driving and gas,” Vanadilok said. “It’s related to the other ways that a commuter student can get to campus through public transit. I’ve gotten questions regarding discounts for Caltrain, Ace Train or Amtrak. Although we currently don’t have them, I know the student government is working on this issue. One of the senators—Allison Green—is working on legislation to see if we can get that resource for commuter students. I think employees would benefit from that.”

“Most employees don’t have a car, so they have to take public transportation,” added Vanadilok. “A discount would greatly benefit them especially since they use it frequently throughout the week.”

Additionally, Vanadilok pointed out active commuter related resources.

“The Commuter/Transfer Lounge has been very popular because it gives commuters a home away from home,” he said. “They can put their bags away, study, socialize, nap, eat their meals and have a snack. They can be around students in a similar situation.”

“Another resource are the day-use lockers around other parts of campus—Benson basement level, Malley, etc,” Vanadilok continued, “As a student, I can put my stuff in there and if I leave at 6 or 7 p.m. in the evening, I can take my stuff out.”

Anuj Patnaik ’28, a commuter student studying computer science and engineering, weighs the cost of driving and fuel against purchasing a campus parking permit or taking public transit options like Caltrain, ACE or VTA.

“It depends on where you’re coming from. Sometimes transit isn’t realistic so you might as well pay the parking permit,” said Patnaik. “If transit is an option, I’d recommend more than getting a parking permit. I take the bus, so I’d benefit from free bus passes and some kind of SCU student/faculty discount on gas especially for my friends. These things combined really help us.”

In Sundstrom’s view, he found that infrastructure and or other cost-alleviators on commuters could be split into long and short term, aiding students, faculty and staff alike.

“With regards to those—mainly faculty—who commute from far places, it’d be nice if we could have a BART extension all the way down to the Santa Clara station–-long term of course. More short term includes remote work adjustments, carpooling, utilizing smaller vehicles, preferably electric. From the point of view of the University, it could figure out ways to sort of help everyone, notably the more vulnerable workers in this regard, perhaps through special, temporary payments and subsidized transit.”