Every day, I have the struggle of finding parking every morning I come to EdCC fearing that I will be late for class. 

Sometimes I don’t have the time to park off campus and need to get to my class. Along with myself, I notice a dozen other students who are in the same boat as I am, parking off campus and running to their classes because they are late. Why are they late you may ask? Because there is not enough parking for every student on campus. Each day there are many vacant spots in the faculty parking lot, and each of those spots could help any student. 

I believe that we, as students of Edmonds Community College, should be able to use the empty spots that are available in the faculty parking, because numerous spots go unfilled. We need to use every spot on campus before we resort to sending students off-campus for parking. There was a parking census study done which took place for over a week, and we got to the conclusion that there are quite a few spots that are from faculty that go unused.

“I really hate being late to class, not that I left my house late but the fact that I spent a good half an hour looking for parking, I really wish that we could use the faculty parking because I notice there are multiple spots that go unused, and it really would be a lifesaver,” said Tiber Wang, a communication major at EdCC.

There was a study conducted from Oct. 9 to Oct.15 by journalism students which counted all the empty spots in the student’s section and the faculty sections. The study was conducted between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., which is said to be the when rush-hour is. There was an average of 16 spots available, which is far less than the faculty side. 

An interview was done with Stephanie Teachman. Teachman is the director of physical faculties and has been with the college for 25 years. The interview stated how EdCC has tried to improve their parking situation “All were successful in offering additional parking options to students, though not close to the main campus buildings as would be preferred. Land immediately adjacent to the main campus parking has not been an option to my knowledge,” said Teachman  

There have been other attempts made by the school, which Teachman mentioned. “Duplexes were demolished last year, and additional parking added to lot E, and Parking was leased at the Lynnwood Bowl and Skate, and shuttle service hired to provide another parking option Monday Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. during construction.” Regardless of these attempts, this still doesn’t solve the issue that student have to park way off campus, and then be late for classes. I believe that students should not have to leave their house earlier because this is the school’s job and they need to do something about this. 

When asked if Teachman had any personal ideas, it was said that the cost of land is too much “Unfortunately parking and land is extremely expensive, and not something the state can provide funding for. With demand for classes and parking busiest in the mid to late morning hours, I would opt for classes during off peak hours if my program of study and situation allowed for that,”  says Teachman. I feel students should not have to take classes in the afternoon just because the school does not have enough parking to accommodate them. 

The survey concluded that there were twice as many faculty parking spots that remained open compared to the students parking.

Faculty doesn’t have a hard time finding parking “My office is at north campus, so I don’t experience the main campus parking situation too much. I also start work on campus by 7:30 a.m. when parking is readily available. When I do need to go to the main campus, during peak parking usage hours, I can leave my car at north campus and walk.” Said Teachman. 

      As a student, I face this problem every day, and I believe that there are many other options that students can take such as carpool, bus and even Uber. As Teachman said, one can also take classes in the afternoon because then there will be less trouble finding parking. The parking situation should be all gone after the construction is done, but in the meantime, I recommend leaving your house a tad bit early and you should be able to find a parking spot with no problems.