While I am a commuter and a freshman and believe that the parking system does have its problems, I agree that the Institute has done a terrific job planning out a parking situation on paper.  The problem isn’t the planning, but the implementation.  The majority of the time, the system works.  However, in certain lots and at certain critical times the system is prone to fail miserably. 

The most specific example is in C lot behind the Field House.  While this is the most parked in lot after the main lot is filled, every shuttle stops there last.  Frequently, this means that near-empty shuttles go directly past waiting commuters.  Then, by the time that they pass the housing behind the Field House, they are too full to take on any more students. 

This is unacceptable for two reasons.  For one, the shuttle system was stepped up as a compromise for commuters, not for the benefit of those students who choose to live in that housing, so commuters should be picked up first.

This is a minor point, however, because they also may have previously driven to core campus.  The much stronger point is simply the lack of fairness.

I have had to wait half an hour on several instances, and on one instance 45 minutes for a shuttle to have enough room.  Transportation advises you arrive half an hour before class, this does no good if you spend 45 minutes waiting for a shuttle.  At that point, it is much quicker to walk.  Rather, to be fair, certain shuttles should stop at C lot first, before going around the back.  This would allow the wait in C lot to be kept manageable, while preventing long waits at other locations along the way.  There is no reason an empty shuttle should drive past 35 students waiting for a ride to campus.  It simply isn’t reasonable.  If that is how the shuttles are going to operate in the winter, I better invest stock in winter jacket makers. 

I know that they are still working out the bugs in a relatively new system, but it seems like a fairly obvious solution to simply have certain shuttles pick up C lot before going around the back.

AJ Henderson