With Thanksgiving break still weeks away, some Binghamton University students may want a weekend away from the homework and the Binghamton cold.

Thankfully, even if students don’t have a car, several local transportation options are available if they want to return home at any time in the week.

Without even leaving campus, students who live in the New York metropolitan area can travel home through ESCAPE, BU’s student-run bus company.

Each Friday afternoon, an ESCAPE bus leaves campus to stop at Fresh Meadows, Queens; Manhattan; and Huntington, Long Island.

Tickets, which can be purchased in the New University Union room 320, are $60 round-trip and $35 one way.

“The buses pick students up on Sunday [nights] and drop them off at each residential hall,” said Steven Pollack, director of ESCAPE.

On holiday weekends and breaks, ESCAPE expands its bus services to include more locations and buses for students.

In addition to stopping in Manhattan, Queens and Huntington, stops are also made in the Bronx, Brooklyn, White Plains and Nassau County.

“We have a bus captain on each bus and they have set instructions from us telling you where the bus drops you off and picks you up,” Pollack said. “That same person greets the person so when they first get on the bus they know exactly what’s going on.”

Two more busing options for BU students are offered in Downtown Binghamton — Greyhound and Short Line.

At Greyhound, buses are offered to nearly every location imaginable.

If a student wishes to pay a yearly fee of $22.50, they can receive a student advantage card, which takes 15 percent off the cost of every full-priced ticket.

Additional discounts are also offered online at greyhound.com, but according to Ruth Muller, the Greyhound city manager of Binghamton, passengers often forget to print out their tickets.

“Be careful with those,” she said. “People don’t realize they have to come in with them.”

Short Line buses offer free transportation from campus to their station, in addition to the discounted prices for students.

According to Ernest McBean, operations manager of Short Line’s Binghamton terminal, shuttles leave from BU’s Engineering Building for the station at 8:10 a.m., 10:40 a.m. and 1:40 p.m. on Fridays and Sundays.

“The buses leave every two hours,” McBean said. “When the shuttle leaves campus, they usually get [to the station] 20 minutes before the bus leaves.”

At the station, students can receive a discount of around $5 per ticket if they show their student ID. Tickets are also available online at coachusa.com.

McBean advises passengers to call the station before the trip to find out route information and possible transfer locations.

If students don’t want to take a bus, they can find a carpool home with someone else in the area.

To find a carpool with someone who lives near your home, talk to your friends or utilize carpool-locator sites such as iCarpool.com.

Carpools are a comfortable way to get home, but students should exhibit proper etiquette when they are a passenger in someone else’s vehicle.

According to iCarpool.com, travelers should divide gas and toll expenses before making a trip, in addition to establishing behavioral rules such as playing loud music, smoking, talking and eating.

Passengers should also have a backup plan in case the car breaks down or the driver gets tired and needs a replacement. The Web site recommends having a minimum of two drivers in the car.