Is Parking at USJ Really That Bad?
Written by Emily Gaudet
USJ’s parking system has undergone many modifications over the years. Back when USJ changed to a co-ed school, admittance rose along with the amount of students that needed vehicles on campus. Up until a few years ago there was a categorized system on campus, separating parking for commuters, residents, and staff. The gravel X Lot was initially created for staff parking only. Now, USJ operates on an open parking plan in which anyone attending or employed by USJ is free to choose any open parking spot – with the exception of handicap spots. Though there have been complaints about USJ having too few parking spots on campus, interviews with students seem to indicate mixed feelings.
When senior Dylan Levesque was asked how often congested parking impacts his ability to be on time to class, he responded “I’m not usually late to class because of it, but I’ve had some issues in the past. Usually on Wednesdays, I feel like the big, you know, day where there’s a lot of people on campus… So, I don’t have too much of an issue, but I can see if people are getting here at, like, nine between nine and eleven how it can be a big issue.” Wednesdays are undeniably the busiest day for USJ this current semester and were brought up in multiple interviews. At the same time, however, there seemed to be some understanding of the situation demonstrated by Heather Miller, Director of Academic Support who stated “Wednesdays are generally the worst– followed by Monday’s this semester, but it varies semester to semester. Usually Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little better, but yeah. Peak times are peak times for a reason. It’s when the majority of classes are scheduled, it’s when the majority of events happen.” While there is an acknowledgement of the sometimes hectic parking at USJ, it seems that it is underlined with a sense of understanding and agreement that Wednesday’s, while very busy, are busy for a reason.
Junior Erin Harvey and senior Jonathan Huot seem to agree, however, that congested parking is a consistent issue. When asked the same question Levesque had received, Harvey responded with, “Every time I move my car. Every time I get in my car.”, and Huot’s answer was not far off, “I mean, I live on campus, but every time I commute to a class, I’m usually late.” Senior Molly Arnson even responded with, “I purposely get here at eight-thirty every morning to avoid a bad day.” Although there does seem to be some frustration in being able to find consistent parking spots, multiple students have taken to arriving at campus early in the morning to avoid this issue.
Campus Safety is responsible for alerting students, faculty, and staff of any changes in parking that may affect campus. Several of our interviewees appeared to find that overall, Campus Safety’s email updates on parking were adequate, and even helpful. In response to this issue, Miller stated “I mean, they send us advisories when they know that there’s multiple events happening, but their ability to predict exactly when overflow is going to come into effect would be difficult unless you have some sort of system where you actually track every parking space on campus and know when they’re all full. Which is fair”. Levesque seemed to mirror Miller’s sympathy with his response, “I think recently they’ve been doing a good job. In the past, I feel like last semester they didn’t but this semester, I feel like they were on top of their emails. Like, I usually get an email at least once or twice a week about it”.
When asked if they believe parking at USJ has improved or worsened after switching to an open parking plan, most answers were neutral. As Huot had put it, “Given the rise of residents, especially and probably commuters too, but residents stay on campus. Those lots and the extra parking they’ve added over the past few years for students, you know, that still gets filled up just like it did three years back when I was a freshman, and there were many less people, because now there’s a lot more people to fill all those spots.” The sentiment seemed to be that USJ had met the need for parking, but had not exceeded it.
In regards to USJ’s parking pass, students currently pay fifty dollars for the entire academic year. This aspect of USJ’s parking system seemed to be deeply appreciated by students and staff alike. Harvey shared her thoughts on USJ’s parking system saying, “My sister goes to a school in a different state and her parking pass to be on the outskirts of campus was nearly $200 to be in like the center of campus, it can jump close to $500. So, I think it’s very reasonable for the parking pass to be $50. I feel like the price is very accessible to the students.” Huot agreed with Harvey, adding on with “Yeah, you could park almost anywhere on the campus for the whole year. I mean, yeah, like Erin said, on a lot of campuses, you won’t get that kind of a deal, so that is a positive.”
At the same time, sentiments over Campus Saftey’s ticketing system seemed to elicit mixed feelings. Harvey shared her thoughts on the matter saying, “I’ve only had a car on campus the past, like, year and a half, but I’ve noticed that it’s not consistent. They’ve just put out an email saying, oh, you can’t park an X-lot overnight. People have been parking at X-lot overnight, like, at least ten to fifteen cars for the past two weeks since the snowstorms, which is understandable, but I feel like there needs to be better enforcement. They also say they’re going to ticket students who stay in the lots when they’re told to move the cars when there is a snowstorm. They don’t. They do not do that. I feel like if there was more consistency and more like follow through around that, I feel like you’d see better results”. While Harvey’s experience was a bit negative, Levesque’s remarks sing a different tune, “I don’t really know too much about it. I feel like they don’t give out a lot. Like I mean, obviously like the handicapped, like people who don’t park in handicapped parking, like, I understand that. You know, the other one I’ve heard of is like, people parking in X lot, like overnight. But other than that, I feel like they’re pretty good… I feel like they’re pretty lenient.”
Much like the issue of ticketing, when asked what they believe would improve parking on campus, student responses seemed to be just as mixed. Arnson pointed to changes in event parking. She stated, “I think event parking, like if they could have their own, or like, if they were the overflow lot, like that would just make it a little bit easier, but again, we can’t really control that. People are going to park where they find a spot.” Huot took a more unsure stance on the issue, “It’s hard to say, you know, I don’t know enough about this issue to really say. You know, I would love to just say, oh, you know, if we had more parking on campus in general, then problems that we solved, but obviously it’s not that easy– if it were that easy, that would have been done. So, you know, I totally understand that.” Harvey suggested a school-wide makeover, her response being “I think that what it comes down to is like, it would take a massive overhaul of the whole layout of the entire campus, not just like one or two buildings or one or two lots. It would require an entire remapping and rebuilding of the school that would cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. You’d have a lot of construction around campus, which could definitely be a [negative] factor for students that are looking at being here, and the less students who have cars, the more the cost gets driven up for everyone else.”
While parking at USJ may seem like a simple issue to fix, it’s clear that there is more nuance to the problem which students acknowledge. USJ is surrounded by wetlands that are illegal to build on which leaves administration with limited options for solutions. Overall, it seems that students and staff alike are understanding of the parking situation at USJ, but look forward to seeing improvements and hearing updates nonetheless. In finishing her thought, Harvey stated, “So there’s no… good answer, but I feel like if there’s a plan that’s going into place that will update the campus towards the needs of a growing community, that would be awesome to even hear about… if they want to, like, take our statements and get our perspective on it as current students of the university, that’d be great!”
Featured photograph by Emily Gaudet
