Carpooling
helps environment, parking
By
Joseph Serna
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Like a conga line on wheels, an endless stream of cars roam the aisles of Cal
State Long Beach parking lots, with all eyes searching for the next empty space
so students can begin their trek to class.
With approximately 9,000 parking permits bought through registration, and almost
another 9,000 bought over-the-counter during a regular semester, perhaps the
effects of finding parking on the environment are the least of the students’ worries.
With a grant of a little more than $20,000 from British Petroleum, carpooling
has become a focus of the Associated Students, Inc. Conservation Commission
hope to encourage the practice for it’s convenience and positive effects
towards saving the environment.
“The amount of smoke that’s emitted…it’s a pretty sickening
amount,” said Kim Hickson, the student government adviser.
“It’s for everyone’s advantage,” said Ignacio Carrillo,
associate director of Parking and Transportation.
While the effects on the environment might be minimal during summer session,
when all lots including general parking seem to be vacant, “every little
bit helps,” both Hickson and Carrillo said.
According to the CSULB Conservation Commission Web site, if enough people participate
in carpooling, it can cut traffic growth and related pollution by 20 percent,
and it can save $500 per year at $1 per gallon.
Besides helping to save the environment, there are other reasons to carpool
to school.
“It takes me half an hour to find parking, then 20 minutes to walk to class,” said
Meryl Palad, a nursing student.
It’s a problem she didn’t have to bear when she was carpooling
with her friend. Unfortunately, a demanding upper-division schedule along
with where she lives keeps her from finding someone to carpool with.
“We’re a very individualistic community, that’s the problem,” Carrillo
said. “Of course it’s a little inconvenient, but it’s
plausible.”
He sees it as a matter of balance, but if you can accomplish that balance, “the
benefits, if you get used to it, are wonderful.”
“[Carpooling] would be nice, but its not practical,” Erica Young,
a liberal studies major said. Like many students, her school and work obligations
get in the way. Yet when it works out, the advantages seem to be worth it.
Along with saving gas money and opening a parking space, the simple obligation
of going to school because you’re taking someone else can be motivation
enough to go.
“You have an obligation to take your classmates,” said Tomo Nakamura,
a nursing student. “Classes are more fun if you take them with a friend.”
According to Carrillo, carpooling has a three-fold purpose: to help the environment,
to help congestion and parking, and to save students money.
Last semester, CSULB issued 788 carpool tags for approximately 1,600-1,800
students. With a valid semester parking permit, the driver and a passenger
can sign the carpooling agreement together. There is no fee to get a
carpool tag. |
