Every year, students complain
about what they say is a
lack of parking at the
Newtown campus.
Students complain that the
Office of Safety and Security
issues far more parking permits
than the number of
spaces available, often making
it difficult to find a spot in
a reasonable amount of time.
“Sometimes I’m late to class
because I can’t find a parking
spot,” said Natalie Graf, a 19-
year-old nursing major.
Often, Graf is forced to park
in lot C, the furthest lot from
Penn where she has classes.
Chris Lloyd, director of
security and safety, has heard
complaints about the lack of
parking in all his years as
director. However, he maintains
that parking should not
be an issue. “There is more
[parking] than we need, we
just can’t guarantee it’s going
to be convenient,” he said.
Yet, students disagree.
When it comes to parking,
“There seems to be a lack of
responsibility and accountability,”
said Edward Steele, a
22-year-old political science
major and member of student
government.
On the Newtown campus,
there are five student parking
lots. On a typical school day,
lot B tends to fill up the
fastest because of its convenient
location across from
Gateway. Lot A fills next,
with D and E shortly after.
“With five student lots, there
are always spaces,” said
Lloyd. “In fact, lot C always
has more than enough spaces.
People just don’t want to
have to walk.”
As every Bucks student
comes to learn, parking issues
in the first few weeks of
school are the worst. “Often
students are hanging out on
campus longer than usual so
they can buy books,” said
Lloyd. To help with the
heavy congestion during this
time period, the Office of
Security and Safety attempts
to direct traffic.
In addition, vehicles
without parking permits
are not ticketed
for the first month of
school. According to
the motor vehicle and
parking regulations on
the Bucks website, the
violation for parking
without a valid permit
is $15.
As of Sept. 24, parking
enforcement has
been ticketing cars
without permits.
When the spring
semester begins, cars
will not be ticketed
until Feb. 1.
The biggest problem
this year, according to
Lloyd, is that two
employee lots are
closed due to steam line construction,
and half of an
employee lot is being used as
a storage area for the construction
equipment.
Because of this, some faculty
now park in the student
lots.
This increased congestion
could be the cause of the few
accidents that have already
occurred on the campus lots
this year. “In the most significant
accident, a car struck
several vehicles, but no
injuries were reported,” said
Lloyd. The other few accidents
were also minor, mainly
involving cars backing out
of spaces into other cars.
Some students choose not
to pick sides in this ongoing
battle. Sarah Watters, a 19-
year-old liberal arts major,
had only one thing to say:
“Teleporting is the way.”