The commuters of Drew deserve better parking. Spaces designated to commuters should be accessible to them at all times.
Commuters go through enough stress timing their arrival on campus. They should not have to worry about searching multiple lots for a parking space upon arrival. Unfortunately, the commuter parking lot behind Sitterly House is simply not large enough to accommodate all commuters. The lot is always overflowing with cars. Students end up parking in spaces that aren’t meant to be parking spaces, or they are forced to drive back to the main lot and find a spot.
After hitting traffic or construction and cutting it close to the start of class, not being able to find a parking spot will make a student definitively late. Although students might not miss much in the first 10 minutes of the class they are late to, the stress of sitting in traffic and not being able to control their tardiness is a lot to handle.
The main parking lot does not even provide respite when the Sitterly lot is full. When Drew hosts events like sports games, the parking spaces in the main lot are taken up by outsiders. It is not fair to the students who paid $200 for a parking decal to have their parking spots taken by visitors. Visitors to Drew can park in the Tilghman parking lot, which is free for anyone. Providing parking in the main lot to visitors means that they get to be closer to everything. It seems like nice hospitality on Drew’s part, but it certainly says something about how they treat students.
If Drew plans on continuing to allow visitors to take parking spaces in the Main Lot, a warning to the commuters on days of major events would be appreciated. If the students know the lot will be full, they won’t drive around in circles, wasting time, and will simply park in Tilghman lot. Although this would still not be fair, considering that commuters paid to park in the main lot and Sitterly, it would be better than the abrupt robbery of the spots.
A possible solution to these problems would be to increase the number of parking spaces available to commuter students. There are staff parking spaces right next to the commuter parking lot that seem to be less occupied than the commuter spaces. That lot could be converted to include more commuter parking spaces. This change would be a great improvement for all commuter students.
Adding additional spaces for commuter students would ensure that everyone has a parking spot. This in turn would help eliminate some of the stress caused by commuting. Residents have the luxury to walk to the EC before class and grab some Starbucks. On the other hand, commuters are denied coffee because their commute takes away those extra minutes needed to grab a cup. The least the commuter students could have is a guaranteed parking space.
