“Your car leads to frustration,” says Suzanne Worcester, professor of applied environmental science at Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB). College students can attest to this.
Every year, CSUMB students have voiced their frustrations with parking on campus, and on the laundry list of issues students have, finding parking close to classes has been number one.
As a solution, Lupe Cabeca, parking supervisor at CSUMB, suggests, “While lots that immediately surround campus are full during an academic day, our exterior lots remain 10-20% full.” Both Cabeca and Worcester advise students to find parking on the perimeter of campus and walk, bike or take The Wave shuttle bus to class.
However, commuter students are resistant to this idea for two reasons: time and uncertainty.
“It’s frustrating cause it’s more time that I have to take out of my day to come to find parking easier,” said Karla Valadez, a third-year transfer student from Cabrillo College.
Regarding parking in the outer lots, Valadez expressed feeling hesitant, “Because I don’t know how to get to some of them, these are just the ones that are more commonly known.”
For this reason, students like Valadez have been requesting parking services at CSUMB to expand inner parking lots; a notion parking advisors have been resistant to.
When asked about the possibility of increasing main campus parking, Cabeca stated there is, “Nothing in our immediate plans. The need for parking does not currently exceed the supply.”
Finding close parking has been an ongoing issue for students, and parking services have made it clear that expansion isn’t happening. So, to save time and frustration, it’d be optimal that students follow the advice of CSUMB officials: park in the outer lots (like Lot 59) and take alternative transportation to main campus.
Worcester argues reducing time in passenger cars (cars that carry less than 10) and increasing time walking, biking and using public transportation would be beneficial to college students and the planet.
“We’re driving way more than we need to drive,” Worcester said, “Forty percent of [California’s carbon] emissions are from cars and trucks, mostly passenger cars.”
Overwhelming the atmosphere with carbon dioxide (CO2) contributes to heightened natural disasters, like the floods of 2023 that kept some CSUMB students from Santa Cruz and Watsonville from commuting to class for a period of time.
Students can reduce the likelihood of these events, but according to Worcester, “We need to do it at a large scale.” She believes this is attainable if students utilize CSUMB’s transportation resources.
The Wave bus shuttle (which runs seven days a week) offers free transportation across campus; it travels on a loop from Lot 59 every 8-10 minutes, its route contains 17 shuttle stops and each bus has a bike rack.
Worcester encourages students to think of riding The Wave as, “Free time to do something you enjoy,” rather than having to wait for parking.
For students able to, Worcester recommends biking and emphasizes the proximity it offers: “If you want close parking, ride a bike.”
Don’t have a bike? The Otter Cycle Center (located in the Student Center) offers daily bike rentals at the same rate as parking ($5/day). Also, a semester-long bike rental ($100) is more than $100 less than a parking permit of the same duration ($211.50).
When it comes to alternative parking strategies, Worcester believes it’s up to students to prioritize their time and well-being over the familiar.
“It’s a choice, [and] with a choice comes the impact not just on the planet, but on people’s time and frustration.”