Are Parking Passes Really Worth It?
Parking permits, or passes, give students who drive to school a designated, exclusive parking spot. At Blake, a full-year parking permit in the school parking lot costs $78. Along with ever-rising gas prices, that makes driving to and from school an expensive ordeal for many high schoolers, who often lack a steady income. So is buying a parking permit even worth it?
I bought a parking pass for the second semester of last school year and all of this year, but it hasnβt been smooth sailing since then. I often drive into school in the morning to find my parking spot, which is supposed to be exclusively for me, taken by someone else. Usually, someone without a parking permit takes a spot, which causes the next person to take someone elseβs spot, creating a chain reaction that leaves many disappointed with their purchase of a parking pass.
Additionally, parking passes promise the idea of convenience. I expected that having a designated spot near the front of the parking lot would make it easy to get out quickly at the end of the school day. However, having a designated parking spot actually makes it harder to get out of the lot; parents clog the pickup line, park incorrectly in the lot, and students without permits in the back of the lot block the way out and push students with permits to the back of the line. For students who paid for the privilege of a parking pass, it often takes seven or more minutes to get out onto Norwood Road, when youβre then stuck in traffic behind all the other cars and buses.
With all these issues, what is to be done to improve the experience of having a parking permit? Our principal, Ms. Snead, advises students to βlet security knowβ if another car is parked in their designated spot.
βWeβll have a conversation with that person, and they will be in danger of losing their parking pass.β
Thatβs all fine if the parking offender has a parking pass, but it doesnβt address the root of the problem: people without passes parking in reserved spaces. They have no parking permit to be revoked, so what punishments could they face?
βThereβs always that threat of towing,β suggests Ms. Snead, but thereβs a catch. βThe reality is, we donβt want to really inconvenience you or your parents. Thereβs a big financial obligation with towing as well. So we try to use that as a last resort.β
In other words, parking offenders can expect not to face any serious consequences, which means they can continue taking parking spots and inconveniencing people who paid for the convenience of a parking permit. With all the problems associated with buying a parking permit and the lack of benefits, it seems evident that you should save your $78 and βpassβ on a parking permit.