As the semesters pass by, frustrated City College students are waiting and wondering if parking will ever be improved on campus.
The answer is maybe.
The college is saving money for a new parking structure, but doesn’t have half of what’s needed to build it.
In the meantime, parking is very tight for students because the college sells three permits for every available space, a practice that’s not likely to change.
In the meantime, students should take advantage of a number of options that will help them with parking.
“We have to get students back on their feet,” said Joe Sullivan, vice president of Business Services. “Right now only 2 percent of students ride bikes to school.”
Compare this with UCSB, where bikes are the most popular mean for students to get to class.
Here at City College, many student drivers sit in their cars waiting and trying to anticipate when the next car will leave. The number of student drivers seems to increase, as the number of student parking seems to go down.
But students shouldn’t look to a new parking garage to ease their annoyance and frustration.
Sullivan and Alex Pittmon, director of campus development, agree that plans to build a parking structure are on hold for now.
The college put money aside for a new garage after the California Coastal Commission told officials here they must add at least 450 parking spaces before they could build any new classrooms.
“We have $4.5 million in a reserve for parking development,” Sullivan said. “This is not nearly enough, and the state is not required to fund parking.”
Sullivan estimates it would take about $8 million to build a garage, or about $18,000 per parking space. The money the college puts in reserve for the new garage and other construction may not be spent on those projects.
“This is hard for the college to handle without state funding,” Sullivan said, “not to mention the current budget crisis.”
Students who purchase a parking permit spend between $15 and $30. When purchasing permits, most student drivers expect to arrive on campus and find available parking spaces.
What most students don’t realize is that for every student parking space on campus, the college sells three permits. This semester 6,673 permits have been sold, 5,356 of those for day and evening.
John DaFoe, director of security, estimates the college has about 2,500 parking spots for student use, some of which cannot be used until after 3 p.m. This is compared to a student enrollment this semester of approximately 16,000.
Pittmon and DaFoe say the college is looking to add new surface parking. Still, the ratio is fine, DaFoe said, because not all students are at school on the same days at the same times.
Other options for students include
* Carpooling. Students with two or more per car get preferential parking near classrooms.
* Buses. The Metropolitan Transit District runs all-day buses and drop offs at both East and West Campus.
* Bikes. The college has many bike racks and well-established bike paths surrounding it.
* Motorcycles. Like carpoolers, they can park at prime spots on campus 24-7.
* Walking.
* Park down at Leadbetter beach, or buy a waterfront parking pass at a reduced cost from the Cashier’s Office and park at the Harbor.
Clever tricks include finding nearby neighborhoods and park legally, then catch the bus or walk the rest of the way to campus. Some students have even made deals with close by neighbors and are renting out driveways for the semester.
City College students spend more time thinking of how to put these options to use, rather than sitting in a crowded parking lot.