For the past three years, the Baron has posted a parking assessment update, and every year, students become more and more aggravated as parking availability continues to worsen. Past parking assessment articles have outlined technical issues with Hotspot Parking and the controversy surrounding the Health and Innovation Centre, which has significantly reduced parking availability. The construction of this new building removed 85 parking spaces designated for staff, and to make up for this inconvenience, the school reallocated a student parking lot to staff. There are also no plans to build a new parking lot to compensate for the precious space that the Health and Innovation Centre has taken. Rightfully so, students did not think highly of these parking changes and expressed their frustration to the Baron.

Claire Bently/The Baron

Parking Struggles this Year

Unsurprisingly, available parking spaces have become even harder to find this year. Whether it is because of an increase in student or staff numbers, students are struggling to find parking spaces, having to drive around waiting for a slot to open up, and becoming increasingly frustrated that the university has not addressed this issue.

One student expressed their challenges with parking this year, explaining that “there have been occasions where I have had to drive around both the paved and gravel lots numerous times in order to find a parking space. There was one day that I drove around for over 10 minutes trying to find a spot and ended up simply having to wait for someone to leave so I could take their spot.”

Other students revealed that they have seen people make their own parking spots and block other cars in. “Particularly in the gravel lot, since there are no lines and no designated spaces, there were people who had been blocked in by other cars and therefore could not get out or leave. When the parking lots are so full that people are required to make their own spaces in order to make it to class on time, and then those individuals get ticketed for not parking in a legitimate space, it causes me to wonder if the university really prioritizes academics. We pay a lot of money to be students here, and we should not have to risk either being late to class or missing class entirely because there is nowhere to park.”

To make it to class in time, some students have even resorted to parking at the hospital. “There have been days that the parking lot is so filled I spend 15 minutes circling it looking for a space to park just for there to be nothing. I give up and park at the hospital, which is frustrating because I am paying for a parking pass, just to be unable to find a spot.”

Even more concerning, this parking issue will continue to worsen when it starts to snow, as the university also struggles to plow the parking lots in time for classes during the winter months. “Aside from there not being enough spaces, the conditions of the gravel lot are horrible, especially in the winter. There were times last year when I arrived on campus after it had snowed and the gravel lot was not plowed but there were no other spaces available, so I had to drive through snow that was deep enough that a small car would have definitely gotten stuck.”

Clarie Bently/The Baron

The Cost of Parking

The cost of a September-April parking pass, which is what most students purchase, is $169, and as UNB Saint John’s Director of Environmental Health, Safety, & Security has stated, “your permit does not guarantee a parking space.” But this statement raises the following question: Why should students, who are struggling amid the rising cost of living to afford rent, food, gas, and tuition, have to pay 169 dollars just to not be guaranteed a parking space? Other students share this sentiment, arguing that “parking passes are pricey. At the very least, you should be guaranteed a spot after purchasing one.”

Students also share that they would not even mind having to pay for parking if the “availability and conditions of the lots were adequate. [We] should not have to pay $169 to park in a gravel pit.”

After three years of students pointing out problems with parking availability, the university continues to ignore them and firmly assert that there is enough parking on campus. But the reality of the situation demonstrates otherwise, as students are making their own parking spaces, driving around for long periods of time to find available slots, and parking at the hospital. When will the university step up, address this issue, and build more parking spots so students can finally stop worrying about whether they will have a place to park when they arrive on campus?