Parking at Pitt a daily battle for pre-eminence

You leave on time for class, and you drive to campus. Ten minutes later, you are still… You leave on time for class, and you drive to campus. Ten minutes later, you are still circling the block looking for the perfect space.

You finally spot one and deliberately head toward it, but right before you pull into it, someone else slides in and steals it. You are now almost late for class, so you hurriedly look for another spot.

The frustration builds. You don’t have a parking permit so your options are limited. You see a metered spot and grab it, but when your class runs later than expected, you come out to find a brightly colored parking ticket stuck on your windshield.

Sound like a cheery way to start the day?

Cars can be expensive, from insurance to gas to parking. In any kind of urban setting, parking is difficult and time-consuming, and Pitt’s campus is no exception.

But for some students, it would be nearly impossible to live without a car.

A car certainly makes some things like grocery shopping easier. The car-less complain that they have to carry all their groceries home or drag several plastic bags on to a public bus instead of tossing them into the trunks of their cars and driving home.

There are other things that having a car is useful for as well. For students who have a job off campus, a car eliminates waiting for public transportation, and when it’s time to go home, a car is a lot safer than waiting at a bus stop, let alone walking.

It’s also helpful to not be dependent on public transit, as one bus running late could mean another day late for work.

The freedom a car gives students is undeniable.

It is easier to go see a movie, go out to dinner with friends and travel outside of the immediate city of Pittsburgh with a car.

But no matter how useful a car is off campus, there is still the issue of parking it on campus, whether the student is a night student, commuter or full-time resident.

Students who have a car have several options for parking. They could of course try and find a space on any side street in Oakland, which would be free and out of the way.

The risk, however, is that cars are not always safe sitting day in and day out in some areas that are off campus. Students can take security precautions, but there is also the risk that your space will not be there next time, making this option for full-time day students sound not quite so appealing.

There are metered parking locations around campus as well, including outside Soldiers and Sailors’ garage, and further down on Bigelow Boulevard by the Hillman library, as well as in other places.

These spots are right in the middle of the campus, making accessing classes easy from these metered locations.

But students who spend a lot of time on campus might not find this to be the best option – who wants to put money toward parking every day? The amount of time on meters is also limited, so for students spending their whole day on campus a meter would be inconvenient.

This option would be better for the students who only have a car once in a while or who don’t spend very much time on campus.

A third option is to park in one of the several garages or lots located around campus.

The garages are usually open from about 6 a.m. until midnight during weekdays, and student parking permits that can be purchased to secure a place to park each day.

To purchase a parking permit, you need your student ID and your car’s registration.

Permits are available in the Parking Services Offices, located in room 204 of Brackenridge Hall.

This option is beneficial to students who spend a lot of hours on campus with their cars parked nearby.

Permits can be purchased by semester or for the whole academic year.

Students who want to keep their cars available to them have to decide what is the best option for their needs based on where they live, how much time they spend on campus and what their budget is.