All of us have experienced parking nightmares in our lives. But being SMC students this happens every single time we head to college. As the number of students attending grows, the parking issue has become one of the most common problems students face. Imagine if you had a class around noon, you arrive early but you end up in a parking line for up to an hour.

Sedi, an SMC student, says, “It’s not fair to pay $80 for a parking spot when there is none available.” She goes on to point out, “SMC shouldn’t sell parking spots beyond capacity.” Maintenance Manager, Damien Rodriguez, had his own opinion about the parking situation. “It sucks,” he says “There’s nothing much you you can do besides finding a spot two hours early or wait until the afternoon to find a spot, unfortunately, you may miss your class.” Damien highly recommends alternative transit methods such as the Big Blue Bus, carpooling with Lyft or even parking on the Bundy campus and taking the SMC shuttle to the main campus. “Come park on the weekend and walk to the beach” he jokes, “There will be plenty of space then.”

SMC has taken steps to alleviate this issue or at least inform students of ways to get around parking. Going around campus, students often see signs advertising the use of the Big Blue Bus transit. The cafeteria has signs posted through the lunch halls recommending carpooling to save gas but also to avoid parking. It seems like a more ideal and efficient way of travel is by making use of such methods though in the case of services like Lyft it may seem like a costly and/or inefficient compared to driving your own car. Some students also take bikes to school along with the bus or use motorbikes to avoid the parking issue altogether. And yet parking is still an issue to both students, professors, and employees.