By Grace Fortier | Photographer
Baylor has five parking garages and four parking lots on campus. Most of these areas are on the outskirts of campus, far from academic buildings that mainly sit on the inner parts of campus.
When it comes to parking, freshmen are most prioritized. Freshmen get first pick at the parking garages and parking lots when attending their orientation, which I can understand since they are the ones living on campus. However, with thousands of students driving to campus and parking every day, having to share parking spaces with freshmen is inconvenient, for both sides.
For freshmen, if you leave during the day, there’s pretty much no chance you’ll find a spot whenever you return to campus. This leads to having to park on the top floor of the parking garage or farther away on a street off campus, which is not fun at all, especially during the hot fall days.
For everyone else who commutes, once you get to campus, all of the spots are typically taken up by the freshmen. Again, you’re having to park on the top floor of the parking garage or on some street off campus.
There’s really only one parking garage that is accessible to commuting students: Speight Garage. This garage sits near most academic buildings and is the most centered on campus. However, there are only so many available passes to purchase. This leads to many commuting students having to park in parking garages that are dedicated to freshmen living on campus.
On top of having to park far away from classes, there is little grace when it comes to parking tickets. Oftentimes, it is easier to pay the $35 ticket than to park far away from wherever you’re going.
With multiple new construction projects expected to happen on campus over the next few years, I think building a new parking garage or parking lot is necessary for both freshmen who live on campus and everyone else who commutes to campus during the week.
