(Photo courtesy of: UMass Lowell) “Students already pay for parking passes so why do they also have to pay lot fees?”

Riley Fontana
Connector Editor

College is expensive, and parking on campus is an added luxury. So, I really want to know why a parking pass does not allow students to park wherever they want to. I pay over $400 and have access to two parking lots 24/7. If I want to visit friends on another campus I either have to take the shuttle, which is hot, uncomfortable and not reliable, or pay another fee to park.

The thing that really gets me though is UCrossing, our student union. When I toured UMass Lowell it was spoken so highly of. It holds our bookstore, campus police, clubs and so much more. And yet, there is no student parking at the student union. I believe there is one lot that our IDs can open after 6 pm, and a metered lot across the street, but that one always has someone handing out tickets. Why did I buy a parking pass just to not be able to park at our student union?

I understand that there has to be parking for staff, but that does not mean students should not be able to access these parking lots. I have never seen both faculty lots at UCrossing fully occupied. And what about the countless students that work internships at UCrossing that are not able to park there?

There are so many events held at UCrossing for students during the day and it’s expected we lug all of the supplies we may need onto the shuttle. UCrossing just hosted the spring engagement fair, where students bring in poster boards, boxes of merch to give away and so much more. So why is it fair they have to bring that on a shuttle, walk it over or pay to park?

The amount we pay to have a car on campus should entitle us to park anywhere within the three campuses. I should be able to park my car on East Campus for free when hanging out with friends or going to a hockey game. Why do I pay for the parking pass every year just to get access to the lot where my dorm is?

At the end of the day, why do we pay so much for parking just to not be able to park wherever we want? And the ticketing system is brutal on this campus, I once got a ticket for

parking at the metered UCrossing lot for less than five minutes to pick something up. The tickets also come from UCAPS, which means the school is taking more of my money when I have already paid for a parking pass. It is undeniable that a campus parking pass should allow students to park anywhere on campus, not just the two lots that happen to be closest to their dorms. The school garners so much money from these parking passes and yet they hand out countless tickets a day just to gain more money. The money could be better spent from those parking tickets by building a student lot at the student union.