Long lines an increasing trend

This year, with more students on Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus than ever before, space has become congested and as a result, lines for businesses such as Tim Horton’s and Starbucks have become increasingly long.

Many students have also noticed an increase in the length of lines on campus, and have begun voicing their complaints.

Heather Barnes, a third-year Laurier student, and Tiffiny Lai and Keavney MacDonald, both fourth- year students, all told The Cord that they spend much more time waiting in lines for common items, such as coffee, than they have in past years.

“In some places, the wait time for lines is a lot longer than last year,” explained Barnes. “I’d say the Terrace is less busy, but the Tim Horton’s line is ridiculous, it can take like half an hour.”

MacDonald echoed Barnes and agreed that she waits upwards of 15 minutes while in line at Tim Horton’s in the Peter’s building on campus.

“I think the Tim Horton’s lines are longer just because they’re cheaper than Williams or Second Cup; they’re never too overwhelming,” MacDonald said.

The Cord waited in line at Tim Horton’s locations in both the Peter’s and Science buildings, and found that the shortest wait time, seven minutes and 30 seconds, occurred in the Science Atrium Tim Horton’s on October 15 at 11:00 a.m., whereas the longest wait, 17:30, occurred in the Peter’s building Tim Hortons on October 8 at noon.

As for other locations, The Cord found wait-times for the Starbucks location in the Concourse to be anywhere between ten to twelve minutes between 10:00 a.m. and noon.

Waiting this long in line between classes at the height of density on campus has many students complaining.

When asked how these wait-times could be reduced, students had one common answer: build more service locations.

“We were just saying earlier that they should open another one [Tim Horton’s location] on campus,” explained Lai. “Maybe having one in every building would help reduce lines, because there’s no in-between; having one in the Arts building would be nice.”

David McMurray, vice president of student affairs, explained that Laurier is actively looking at ways to reduce congestion on campus.

“I know that there are renovations planned in the Science building … to expand the facility and subsequently enhance service,” he stated.

“There’s also another food outlet being proposed for Bricker Academic, which would provide an additional venue for students, staff and faculty.”

While McMurray personally hasn’t noticed any change in how long lines on campus are, he did state that he usually only frequents the Starbucks in the Concourse, and does not often venture over to either Tim Horton’s location, where lines are reportedly longer.

For now, though, students will have to continue to wait in line and some students will still refer WLU as “We Line Up.”

-With files from Marissa Evans