Although enrollment has not drastically increased from last fall, students seem more frustrated than even after the morning rush to find a parking spot and get to class on time.

Many students arrive on campus long before their scheduled classes start and they circle the parking lots to find a coveted spot close to their classes.

As of Sept. 6 the total number of students enrolled for the fall semester is 4,440 full-time students and 5,356 part-time students. There are only 21 more students this year compared to last year. Even so, parking seems to be more a problem that ever.

“If you get here after 9 a.m., you can’t get a parking space. I get here at 8 a.m. for a 9 a.m. class so I can get a spot,” said Erin McCreary, a 21-year-old student.

Laura Irwin, 24, journalism major, has experienced the same problem when arriving for her Wednesday class. “I drove around each Lot A and Lot B three times and still couldn’t find a spot available.” Irwin’s drive time is doubled just by looking for a spot.

Chris Lloyd, Director of Security and Safety is beginning his fourth year at Bucks. “Not once since I have been here have they filled every spot.” There are 2,500 student-designated spots available across campus including 44 infirmary and 31 handicapped spaces,” said Lloyd.

The College went beyond the state-required handicapped spaces and they even offer infirmary spaces. These are available to injured or ill students who need to park closer to their classes and can be obtained through the Security Office, located in Cottage 4, with a doctor’s note.

Other students such as 19-year-old Craig Cameron and 20-year-old Joe Chicoski, both majoring in Liberal Arts had some solutions. “The layout of the campus doesn’t provide ample space for parking. Building a distant parking lot while offering shuttles buses is the best bet.”

Roughly 10,000 parking permits have been issued to students so far for the two-year parking permit cycle beginning Sept. 1, 2005 and ending Aug. 31, 2007. These parking permits are valid at both the Newtown Campus and the Upper Bucks Campus.

The Office of Security and Safety continue to have an ongoing problem with students parking in spaces that are prohibited, such as the employee lot and the visitor’s lot.

To determine if a car in one of those lots belongs to a student, security officers retrieve the owner’s identity through the Pa Dept. of Transportation using the license plate number.

The registrant is then checked in student records and if the first names do not match, addresses are checked to make sure. The student’s name is then cross-checked with their class schedule to see if they would have been on campus during the suspected violation.

Lloyd says that each morning, parking lot B is the first to be filled, followed by lot A. Lots D and E are subsequently filled, leaving lot C which is never completely filled.

While parking in Lot C seems inconvenient to many students, it may be closer to their classes than lots D or E, particularly for those in Art classes.

Students parking without a parking permit have not been issued citations so far this fall.

“We give students every opportunity to get a parking permit. We’re not trying to give students a hard time,” said Lloyd.

Eight new signs have been added throughout the campus to remind students to register for parking permits, which are available in Cottage 4. Officers will begin issuing $15 violations to students without a permit on Monday, Sept. 28, 2006.