Ryan ChartrandAnyone who has waited 20 minutes to get a machine at the Cal Poly Rec Center knows that certain times of the day are much busier than others. What most people don’t know is exactly what times those are.
At the Rec Center, PolyCard swipes are added up to see how many people are coming in during each hour and day.
Over the last year, the busiest times have been between the hours of 2 and 6 p.m. with the 4 p.m. hour being the busiest. The slowest times, and the best for students to come if they want to get the machine of their choice, are right around opening and closing.
“I usually go at either 9 in the morning or 10 or 11 at night to try to avoid the crowds at the Rec Center,” liberal studies junior Allyson Yabumoto said.
The Rec Center’s hours are Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to midnight, Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to midnight.
The facility’s maximum capacity is 150 people and when that number is reached, students must be limited for safety reasons, said Ron Skamfer, the associate director of Associated Students Inc. recreational sports.
“We have to limit the number of people who come in,” he said. “We have a one person in, one person out policy.”
The maximum capacity is rarely reached, only a couple of times a quarter, but there are often more than 120 people during the 4 p.m. hour and that makes it hard for students to work out without waiting around for other people to finish.
The number of students that come in throughout the day looks like a bell curve with the most students in the afternoon and early evenings and less in the mornings and at night.
If the middle of the day is the only time you have to go, try to go on odd-numbered hours. At 1 or 3 p.m., there are a lot less people than at 2 or 4 p.m. because that’s when people get out of class.
“It’s usually busy in the afternoon, so I try to go during off hours before people get out of class,” business junior Stephanie Shih said. “Also, the weekends are usually really open.”
The day of the week and time of the quarter also affects the number of students who go to the Rec Center.
Mondays are the busiest days, and as the week goes on, the numbers get smaller. There are also a lot less people over the weekend, and Saturdays are a little bit slower than Sundays.
The beginning of the quarter is almost always busier than the rest.
“The first week of any quarter is going to be a significantly higher attendance than we normally see,” Skamfer said.
Dead week and finals week are usually quite slower than the rest of the weeks.
Spring and winter quarters are a little bit busier than fall quarter, but summer is much slower than any other time.
Try to go to the Rec Center early or late instead of right after class and you’ll save yourself and others a whole lot of time.