The construction located in two parking lots is taking its toll on commuters.
Being a commuter has never been easy, and as of this semester, it seems that Ferris has made it their goal to guarantee that it never will be. I knew what I was getting into when I signed up to commute to school. I accepted the fact that I had to get up earlier to drive all the way into town and even earlier on days when Mother Nature is ruthless with her snow.
What I didn’t sign up for was the overfilled commuter parking lots. As if the commuter lots weren’t already over-packed—thanks to the construction— commuters have lost two valuable parking lots. I understand that there are times where construction cannot be avoided, but what is Ferris doing to compensate for the lack of commuter space?
About a month after I pre-ordered my expensive commuter parking pass, I received an email directed toward commuters to let me know that two parking lots will be under construction for the beginning of the school year.
“The beginning of the school year? That’s not too bad,” I thought. But as I continued to read, the email provided instructions for what to do in cases of “inclement” weather. Commuters know what “inclement” means. We know the adjective is reserved for those days where we leave our houses two hours before class and intensely clutch our steering wheels as we go ice skating in our cars down the snow bank.
So not only are we sliding to class, we also have the inconvenience of not being able to park in close proximity to our buildings.
There’s a game we commuters play. It’s almost like musical chairs but much more intense. We drive around a parking lot, circling like sharks and waiting for a new spot to open up. As the clock ticks, we slowly find ourselves losing faith in finding a spot in time for class. We switch to another parking lot and repeat. Finally, we give up all together, and most of us park in the residential streets near or around campus.
I leave my house 45 minutes early just to ensure I can get a parking spot. But despite my planning, I still have to park in the residential areas twice a week. I usually have to park 2-4 blocks away from the administration building. During my walk, I notice that I’m not the only commuter with this issue; car after car displays that little purple sticker of regret.
If I knew I’d be parking on the residential streets, I would never have wasted my money on a parking pass. Ferris should be doing more to provide for commuters. If you’re going to take away two of our parking lots, give us a discount on our passes or at least warn us before we spend money on a pass. The least you could do is give us some reassurance or a date for when we can expect to have our parking back.