Don't worry: Bad parking will ease

By Allison Cranford
Special to the Summer Forty-Niner
 
Chuck Miller, a business management and marketing major, was amazed when he drove into a campus parking lot the first day of last semester.

"It took me 45 minutes to find a spot," he said. "I couldn't believe it."

Miller is representative of many students when he says he often feels frustrated and irritated with the parking situation on campus.

These suggestions may help:

Alan Moore, field services and operations manager for parking and transportation at Cal State Long Beach, suggests students carpool for the first couple of weeks of the semester.

This tends to be the busiest time because many students are trying to add courses. Moore said after the commotion of the first weeks, when students have settled into their schedules, there are plenty of parking spaces for students.

In total, there are 12,432 parking spaces at CSULB. Of those spaces 2,735 are in the parking structure, which was built in the early 1990s. The structure, with six levels, has helped to relieve much of the congestion in the parking lots.

Some students feel even though they can find a parking spot, the walk to most buildings on campus is too far.

"I have to leave my house, 10 minutes away from campus, 40 minutes before my class so that I can have enough time to park and walk to my class without having to run," said Danielle Guagliardo, a student in the credential program.

The solution to this is the Campus Connection. This shuttle-bus system, run by Parking and Transportation Services, makes stops around campus and also at some off campus locations to pick up and drop off students. The shuttle has three routes and makes 21 stops on campus.

The Campus Connection is a great way to get to class whether you get on after you park your car or are picked up at one of the off-campus locations.

"Now when I have to park in spot far away I just get on the shuttle and it takes me right to class," Miller said. "And it's a lot faster than walking."

Another option is to become part of a carpool. A student can either organize his/her own carpool or be matched by Parking and Transportation Services with other students who live near them. Either way the student must fill out an application to receive the free carpool sticker.  The student must also buy the regular semester parking permit, the cashier's office said.