Garages will all set you back upwards of $300 as well. I am sure that for some students, the price is just another necessary college expense and provides their solution on how to get to class without getting a migraine. However, my initial reaction to those prices when I moved off campus as a sophomore was. heck no! I simply feel that I should not have to pay that much to park at my own school. Not to mention that upon looking into splurging on a garage spot for my senior year, all of these passes were sold out by about three days before the start of classes. According to the USC
Parking Services website, the only garage with space available is Discovery Plaza garage, which is located all the way over near the Colonial Life Arena and costs only $20 less per semester than Bull St. Not exactly a helpful location for getting to class.
So how have I been getting to and from campus without the luxury of guaranteed parking?
Fortunately, most off campus housing complexes provide a shuttle too and from campus. In my opinion that is a huge asset to be taken advantage of, and I personally do. A free ride at no extra cost makes much more sense to me than an expensive parking space that I still have to drive my way through traffic to get to. Still, the shuttles at some apartments are not 100% reliable. At times they fill up, break down, or stop running before class ends. When this happens and I am forced to drive my car to campus, I never end up having a smooth experience.
For these occasions, I considered purchasing the Student Parking Permit which at a much more reasonable $80 for the entire school year allows you to park in most of the lots around campus.
However, my own observations as well as confirmation from friends tell me that these parking lots fill up so much during class time that students often end up having to park in the street regardless!
Because of this I save my $80 every year and park in the metered parking the few times I drive to campus, not that finding street parking is quick, easy, or always possible. It is a constant nuisance that getting to class has become such a strategic process to so many students, and no strategy is really fool proof. It is not unusual for students to skip class as a result of being incredibly late by the time they finally find a parking space. If the garages, the shuttles, parking lots and street parking are all full, and students are still looking for parking spots, shouldn’t something be done to help with this problem?
When I was a freshman without a car, I was surprised at the number of freshman who did have cars on campus, and this number has no doubt grown since then. I realize that many freshmen see permission to bring their car to campus as a benefit of coming to USC. However, the cars of freshman and other students living on campus are taking up parking spots while their owners can walk to class. Ideally, all students would be able to live within walking distance of school and never have to worry about their cars at all.
However, the large and rapidly growing size of our University does not allow this. Many students live quite far from campus, which is already a sacrifice they make to go to a large school in the middle of the capital city. They should not have to sacrifice being able to get to class conveniently as well. Something has to be done about the parking situation on campus, whether it is separation of long term parking from off campus student parking, a partnership between the University and the surrounding off campus housing to provide more shuttle service, or simply the creation of more parking space as a priority.
The whole University would have one less thing to complain about, and one more reason to get to class on time.
Photo credit: Rachel Wallace
