University of New Haven commuter students share a common complaint.
There are not enough commuter parking spaces for the number of students who live off-campus and that situation is further snarled with class schedules and class locations. The struggle of commuter parking becomes even more noticeable when factoring in student-athletes who commute to campus.
Marzia Johnson is a sophomore commuter and member of the softball team. As a student-athlete, Johnson has experienced significant issues with parking on campus.
“My experience with commuter parking has not been the best,” said Johnson. “Any class at 9:30 or later, it is nearly impossible to find parking.”
When students tell teachers they’re late for class because they couldn’t find parking, the most common response is: “Just leave earlier.” That might be simple for some students living off campus, but not for all.
During the fall, softball’s offseason, a normal day for Johnson starts with waking up at 7 a.m., going to team weightlifting at 8 a.m. and rushing back to campus for a 9:30 a.m. class – usually while still wearing sweaty clothes. When Johnson arrives on campus, she says she usually is unable to find a spot designated for commuters that’s close enough to her class for her to park and arrive on time.
So Johnson usually risks being towed or paying a parking ticket, or she is late for class – if she even makes it to class.
“Last semester, I had to miss my 9:30 class a couple times a month,” said Johnson. “This initially started when I parked in the wrong zone because I was late to class since I had come straight from lift for my sport. I ended up getting a ticket and they eventually threatened to tow me since I parked in the wrong spot. So, if I couldn’t find parking, I would just skip since I didn’t want to risk getting my car towed.”
Of the 5,023 undergraduate students at the university, about 25% live off-campus. The school has 17 commuter parking lots on campus, but many of these lots are small, far from class buildings or they’re reserved for admissions and open houses. Then there are the parking lots designated for senior residential students, staff and faculty or visitors. When these parking lots have empty spots, commuter students might be compelled to take them – which explains all those tickets for parking in the wrong lots.
There is a better way, Johnson believes.
“I would change some of the zones at school because some of the lots at school that aren’t commuter lots are mostly empty during the day,” said Johnson, “It takes almost 20 minutes every day just to get a spot.”