By AMANDA MINCKLER and KATE SMITH
Creighton Digital Storytellers

Eve Aspinwall, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, has seen two sides of Omaha during her time at Creighton: one with a car and one without.

“Last year, I felt like I couldn’t leave campus as much because I didn’t have a car,” Aspinwall said.

During her freshman year, Aspinwall only left campus to get the absolute essentials, like groceries, always taking an Uber, catching a ride with a friend or renting a Zipcar.

“I didn’t have [a car] last year because my parents and I thought it would be too difficult to bring one freshman year,” Aspinwall said.

Now that she has the freedom of having her own car, Aspinwall leaves campus about once a week to run errands at Target or CVS. She also likes to study at coffee shops around Omaha and go out to eat.

Because Omaha is such a driving-heavy city, many underclassmen and students without cars find it challenging to get out and about.

Ride sharing and public transit options have provided more options for students. Those without cars can pay for individual rides using Uber, Lyft, electric scooters and the Heartland B-Cycle program.

Residential Life helps students adjust to life at Creighton and in Omaha, and it offers resources for students so they can get out and explore the city.

Kat Turco, the resident director for Deglman Hall, said that underclassmen should coordinate with their friends or students on the same floor to carpool to the grocery store and other essential places.

She also suggested that students can walk or bike to the nearest grocery store or pharmacy or use the Bluejay shuttle, which goes by some convenience and grocery stores on its west route.

“Zipcar could be useful for longer outings to specific locations,” Turco said.

Creighton’s partnership with Zipcar allows students to register using a driver’s license and pay an annual membership fee. They can then rent the cars parked in the Zipcar spots in the visitor lot off of 24th Street for an hourly rate. The cars must be reserved ahead of time.

This option gives students without a car the freedom to drive themselves when they want, where they want using the Zipcar.

Even with all these options, many students still rely on carpooling with friends or their own cars to get around the city.

College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Olivia Salas is from Scottsdale, Arizona, and has a car.

She said she leaves campus about twice a week, just to get off campus, and enjoys going to the Midtown and Blackstone areas to walk around and eat at restaurants.

Salas also said she has not used the Metro Area Transit bus, the Bluejay shuttle, bikes or scooters to get around Omaha.

Other options are there, but students may end up sticking with cars as their main form of transportation.