Lowell's Parking Predicament

Words used to describe the availability of parking at Umass Lowell are rarely words of praise. Some of the students I spoke to said "its improved from last year" and "I can find a space usually." More common were phrases such as "it sucks" "I'm not getting my money's worth" and "If I can't find parking I don't go to class." With the start of a new Fall semester, and increase in the number of freshmen with cars, and overall traffic in the city being worse than ever in recent memory, a place to park your car is of increasing importance to many students in the college.
I spoke to three students, one commuter and two residents with cars, about the conditions of finding a parking space for their vehicles. Evie, a resident with a parking sticker, expressed her outrage at only being able to park at the resident hall where she lived. "The ___ shuttles never arrive on time, and if i could drive to South campus I could actually get there on time for my 8 a.m. class. its ___ that I pay over 200 bucks, and still can't get to class on time." South Campus seemed to be a focal point in many students eyes. Its far from both North and East campuses and is located next to a major traffic junction in Lowell. The main parking lot on South fills up quickly, despite it being one of the largest at the college. Everyone seems to leave between 3:30 and 5, at the same time many people are returning from work, creating even more traffic that slows down school shuttles. Even with this most students prefer taking there car than relying on school transportation.
"Traffic is ___ horrible when I try to leave, but at least they limited to number of freshmen who can park on South." said Sandra, a commuter who parks on South. "When I get here early in the morning, like 7:30-8 o'clock, I can usually find a space at the back of the lot. If you come around 9:30 to 10 though your ___, the whole place is packed." Sandra also described parking on North campus, which has only one commuter parking lot. "Last year I would have to circle the lot, waiting for people to walk back to their cars and taking their spot. I was never on time for my class on North." The idea that students can have cars at the school and commute from home is to increase convenience for them, but is the convenience really that much? It is more accurate to say that these parking lots were useful when they were first built, but they have not increased as the schools population has, creating an 'early bird gets the worm' scenario. Not a fair system when your asking all those birds to pay over 200 dollars for the chance to get a worm (the worm being a good parking space).
Nick, another resident with a vehicle on campus, noted the irony of having a car that could easily take him from the resident hall to campus in 5 minutes, but having to wait 30 minutes for a school shuttle because he is not allowed to park in commuter parking lots. "I can only park in the tiny parking lot behind the Hess station on South, and that only has like 12 spots so there's never parking there. From East Meadow Lane Apartments to South its like a 5 minute drive, but I have to take a school shuttle that has 4 other stops before it goes to South, its ridiculous." When the limited parking, heavy traffic and inability to use a car to go from one campus to the next is taking into account its hard to view having a car at school as a serious benefit. All of the people I spoke to use their vehicles not as a way to get to class but as a way to get to there jobs after class. Paying over 200 dollars to guarantee I can get to my job after class isn't a convenience, its highway robbery.

ever seen the south campus lot this empty? chances are not when you need a space!