We Spartans face a day-to-day challenge our Grecian ancestors didn’t: traffic.

Lewisburg’s location south and west of GEHS drastically slows traffic as it funnels to the gates of the school. The truth is, many of us have accepted Lewisburg logjams as a matter of fact, a rule of nature. But how does Lewisburg’s infamous traffic affect our students and staff?

Traffic has many obvious effects on our daily lives. Arriving at school later than usual comes to mind, which in turn affects our sleep schedules and what routes we take to school. I interviewed students and staff members to gauge the negative effect, on a scale from 1 (minimal impact) to 10 (maximal impact), of traffic on their commute. Responses averaged to a 6. “I would say either a three or a seven,” choir director Carrie Neese said. “It all depends upon how fast I get out of the door.” 

Some feel that traffic is more strenuous than others. “It is a seven for me,” said senior Johnathan Carola. “It gets very congested in the evenings.”

Senior Indigo Graves agreed that traffic can be brutal at times. “It makes you miserable,” she said. “It takes me thirty minutes to get from here to Walmart.”

My polling suggests that traffic has a moderate effect on the commute to GEHS. But I would like to dig a bit deeper, and analyze the subtle effects traffic has on our school days.

Traffic inherently increases the time teachers and student drivers take to arrive at school, and while this is trivial if you leave your house at a decent time, what if you are a little slow on your way out the door? Obviously, you must arrive at school at a scheduled time, so your schedule will always be based on waking up to be on time. Traffic, however, is unpredictable, and if you have not factored in the possibility that it will be heavier the later you are, you will likely be tardy to school.

What about riding the bus? Because you have a designated time you must be on the bus, traffic has no real effect on you. Sure, you may arrive a little slower, but you can never be counted late. Buses have immunity if they are late, as the kids on the bus could not have done anything differently to have arrived early.

Considering that there is still a required time for you to be on the bus, and that most people I interviewed stated that traffic was not a big factor in their being on time, driving your own vehicle seems to be the best choice.