Any decent-sized city that I have visited has had some issues with parking. With that being said, I don’t think a college campus should be so restricted with where students park.
Being a commuter, there are special parking passes for the three garages on Ninth Street and on Peach Street. Each commuter is put into a “drawing” for the spots. If you are lucky, your name gets picked and you are able to buy one.
This year I did not get a parking pass. Paying for a parking pass through the city instead of Gannon is a lot more money. So, the unlucky students try to find free parking.
As you could guess, getting free parking is extremely competitive and far from some of the academic buildings. With it being as cold as it is outside, parking is more than a chore. It is a war zone.
Since I spend a great deal of time at the newspaper, at odd times of the day, I try to park as close as I can. This is where the real problem sets in.
I got a parking ticket. I noticed this past week that Gannon has been cracking down and ticketing many students’ cars. I don’t think this is fair.
Students, like me, are unable to get a parking passes since there aren’t enough. Then we have to fight each other every single day to get a parking spot several blocks away, in the snow. There have been more than a handful of times that I leave extra early for class in order to try to find a spot and still end up circling the area forever and being late to class.
Is this fair? I don’t think so.
We shouldn’t be so limited that we have to be lucky to get parking. There should be more parking passes or lots for students to park in.
It’s not fair to limit the amount of spots you can give to a student and then tell the others that every single day for the whole academic year they must fight for a spot.
Some days, it’s already hard enough to get yourself to class on time. There are always days that the traffic isn’t on your side. Adding in a struggle of just trying to park your car is just too much.
Students who live on campus don’t have this problem as much. There are tons of lots that are available to them. It’s just the commuters who don’t have as many opportunities.
Where is the Knight Rider? I feel like this situation would be so much easier if there was an app that could spot the bus. Knowing that if I just wait in my car for two extra minutes I can hop on the Knight Rider would make everything so much easier.
There was talk of making this app a few years ago, but I haven’t heard about it since. This could be an easy solution to parking problems.
KAT SHINDLEDECKER
