Driving to school? Better get there early – the student lots require a minimum arrival time of one hour to an hour-and-a-half before class just to find a parking space, even three weeks into the fall semester.
“Monday and Friday from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. is the worst time to find parking,” said Steven Wagg, Chief of the Campus Police.
Brett Kodama, 18, said he tries to arrive to school an hour-and-a-half before his class starts to find parking in lot B. If he is not able to, he goes to lot 34, which is a ten-minute walk from GCC, where he usually finds parking at 7:30 a.m. Out of the three times he has attended class, only twice he has been able to find parking, and once was because his friend was leaving and he saved the parking space for him, but that caused him to be late to class.
Another student, Luis Martines, 20, also said that he has to go at the least forty minutes early before his class starts to find parking.
Kevin Flores, 18, was planning to buy the parking permit, but when he heard how frustrating parking was, he decided to park on the street. He parks 10 minutes away from school at Wabasso Way, where he “always finds parking and it is a safe area,” he said.
However, 22-year-old Ronnel Apaciele is not too worried about the situation. He thinks that as the semester progresses, the parking situation will ease up. Because the semester is just beginning, the majority of students show up to class or show up to try to add a class. He said students eventually drop classes or don’t show up to class which makes a big difference in the parking lot. Yet he is having a tough time for now. His class ends at 10:15 a.m. and has another class at 1:15 p.m., but he is not able to leave campus because he knows that he will not find parking.
Motorcycle parking is never a problem according to Hanz Bodtcher, 19. He said he used to ride a bike to school and park in Lot F, and good spots were always available. This semester Bodtcher is riding the bus because his bike needs mechanical repairs.
There are 2,386 parking spaces at GCC, and seven parking lots in total around the campus; lot 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and Civic Auditorium parking. Not only are there parking resources, but GCC also has access to public transportations for students, such as the Beeline.
Students can avoid long walks and frustrating waits by taking the bus, which not only saves time when it comes to find parking but money as well. Route 3’s destination is to the Galleria and Route 7 runs down Glenoaks. Both stops are right outside GCC, on Verdugo Road, only for only 25 cents per pass or an option of a 10-ride pass for $2.
