The Tripod

Summit Street is typically packed with student-owned vehicles parked in spaces, parked on the street, and straddling the curb, perpendicular to other cars. Since Long Walk construction has temporarily taken away parking lots and many students must commute to school after being forced into off-campus housing, parking has become particularly problematic at Trinity.

According to Campus Safety, there are currently 53 parking areas, on or near campus, containing a total of 1,265 on campus parking spaces. In addition to the parking areas by Ferris Athletic Center, the parking lots at the end of Vernon Street, and the parking lot behind the new hockey rink on New Britain Avenue, Buildings and Grounds has constructed two new lots at the corner of Allen Place and Broad Street. Summit Street, on the other hand, is property of the City of Hartford, and is monitored daily by the Hartford Police Department.

Signs on Summit Street clearly state that students should never double-park, block other vehicles, or park on any grassy area along the west side of the street by Rocky Top Park. These rules are not always followed, made clear by the number of cars parked illegally.

Many students have expressed their frustration and dissatisfaction with the current system. Several students have complained after getting ticketed for parking in an area not designated for them. However, it is difficult for students to avoid this violation when lots are not marked properly. In one incident, Deirdre Silcott '10 said she, "got a ticket for parking in one of the Summit lots that did not have a sign [saying] I couldn't park there." When she went to the Campus Safety office to pay her ticket, she said "the officer there seemed quite angry because, according to him, I should have known not to park in that lot, which I thought was funny since there was no sign stating I couldn't." A sign was posted about a week after she received her ticket.

Jacob Narva '09 simply stated: "parking is pretty bad sometimes." He also points out that "parking on the street can get your car broken into." There are safety concerns associated with this dilemma. Alexander Dancho '08 seems to sum up the student body's aggravation. "I have found it nearly impossible to find parking anywhere even functionally close to my classes during the day; I often leave my house 15 minutes early (for a five minute drive) and end up arriving at class five to 10 minutes late because I am unable to find a place to locate my car." Students in situations such as Dancho's are at an academic disadvantage because they must drive themselves to campus for class. Dancho also contends that this situation is unfair for upper classmen forced off campus. He continued, "I find it absolutely ridiculous that off-campus students, who are, in a certain light, aiding Trinity College by opening up more on-campus housing, are being penalized by having absolutely nowhere to park the cars they need to get back and forth."

According to the Associate Director of Campus Safety Chris Lyons, from Jan. 23 to the present Campus Safety has towed 271 vehicles from campus lots. In the calendar year of 2006 Campus Safety towed 410 vehicles, which averages out to more than one every day. Campus Safety investigates all daily complaints about parking and will tow violators and issue parking infractions to offenders. Lyons assured that Campus Safety does attempt to contact "the owner of the offending vehicle when feasible to have that vehicle moved to an appropriate space on campus."

It does not appear that there is any immediate action being taken to address this problem. One possible indirect solution would be the introduction of Zip Cars to the campus, which is currently being considered by the Student Government Association. Zip Cars would be vehicles available to any Trinity student to rent at any time for a reasonable rate. The primary motive for these vehicles would be to encourage students not to feel as though they need a car to drive from one end of campus to the other. As Dean of Students Frederick Alford explained, "The real reason to do this is to begin the changes that all global citizens will need to make if we don't want to make Des Moines a coastal city, but less demand for parking could be a pleasing side effect."

Dancho said he is "disgusted by the way Trinity has handled this situation." Despite the large increase in off-campus students and the parking lots closed off due to the Long Walk construction, the only additional lots are the two on the corner of Broad and Allen, relatively far from most classrooms.

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