Parking Problems at UNB
The first semester is well underway in Fredericton, and midterm season is at its peak. Students are stressing, and working away to get their papers submitted in time. One stress they didn’t expect is finding somewhere to park.
Construction jobs at the University of New Brunswick, including the Harriet Irving Library are taking up parking spots. Both students, and faculty now have to go to campus early to find a spot, or risk being late for classes.
Some students are getting around this by making their own spots. Lush lawns are now occupied by Honda Civics, and yellow lines are now suggestions of where not to park.
These makeshift spots have resulted in UNB Security issuing more fines, some reaching 100 dollars. Most parking passes are around $120.
Kaitlyn Vienneau is a Bio-Chemistry student who has only an hour to find a spot before class. An open sport for her could be anywhere on campus.
“I make my way to the SUB parking lot. If there’s nothing there, I go to the BMO which usually is not very lucky there. Then I go to DKT. If I can’t find DKT parking, I go down to the pool which is a good 20-minute walk from my class.” said Vienneau.
Residence passes are sold to those living on campus, taking up spots right off the bat. As an off-campus student, Vienneau disagrees with the uneven distribution of parking passes.
“They do bring their cars to school, only for after class activities, mostly to drive around the city, and I don’t’ think it’s necessary in order to get to their class compared to people who don’t live on campus and really need to get to their class on time.” she said.
For some students, their frustrations have boiled over. A small group of students sat in front of the Securities Building. Their goal was to change the school’s policy on parking.
The sit-in was started by a Facebook event. In natural Facebook fashion, less than 10 people showed up. Aaron Cabot is a UNB student who created the event. He heard peer’s frustrations over parking, and decided to display student’s problems with parking.
“A lot of people are having frustrations with after paying for a pass, they can’t find a spot they can actually park in.” said Cabot.
