Students are upset with what they say are inconvenient parking spots and the campus shuttle that is rarely on time.
Officials at Quinnipiac University say that there is no problem, but students feel otherwise. Any motor vehicle that is on campus must be registered with the security and safety office on campus. Then a decal is issued, allowing students to park in designated lots.
Commuter students, visitors and guests are allowed to park in the North Lot off of Mt. Carmel Avenue, and the Hogan Road lot. Resident students have to park in the Hilltop lot or the Whitney Avenue lot. These rules are according to the parking regulations set by the Department of Security and Safety.
Currently, there are 1,130 commuter spots in the Hogan Road lot and North lot, and 1,140 residential spots in the Whitney Ave. lot and the Hilltop lot, according to John Twining, chief of security and Safety. “There is enough parking spaces for students, but they may not be convenient spots,” said Twining.
The Hilltop lot provides 170 new spaces this year to replace the same amount that was lost for the construction of the new dorm. There are no parking problems this semester, according to Joseph Rubertone, director of facilities. The fact that freshmen are not allowed to have cars on campus helped to alleviate parking problems, and will be the same case next year.
The only problem that the school anticipates is with the fall of 2002 incoming class.
“We will be dead even for spots,” said Rubertone. To solve this problem, the University is planning construction to start in the early spring of this year on a new lot on Sherman Avenue, providing for 620 new spaces. “Once the lot is complete there will be no more problems, and we will be very, very comfortable,” said Rubertone.
Still, students are complaining. They must walk quite a distance to get from their car to class on any given day. Resident students do not feel that it is fair that they must leave their car off campus in the Whitney Avenue lot and wait for a shuttle to bring them to their cars. Students must be back by 11 p.m. in order to park their car, catch the shuttle and get back to campus.
The Whitney Avenue lot used to be for freshmen, but is now for sophomores. Those students who have cars parked in the Whitney Avenue lot are frustrated with the shuttle’s inconsistencies. It is supposed to pickup students every fifteen minutes, but is usually running later then that. Between waiting for the shuttle and actually getting to the car, it can be quite some time before students are able to get anywhere. As for now, students must leave early to plan for any inconvenience in parking to give themselves plenty of time to get to class.