Parking Problem

This year the student parking situation at BHS has totally changed, and many think it is for the worse. For the ten years Bedford High has been up and running, the rules for parking have been relatively constant: if you’re a senior, you can pay to park in the senior lot, and if you’re a junior, you can register in a lottery to potentially be able to park in the junior lot. Up until recently, off campus parking such as the dirt lot have been free of charge to the surplus juniors and others wanting to skip the cost of on campus parking, while the junior and senior lots were the only places that cost money to park.

Now, this year, the town of Bedford made the decision to pave the surrounding parking lots they own (the pool lot, dirt lot, and Sportsman) and charge students to park for the same price of junior and senior lot parking. An anonymous junior student comments: “I think that the junior and senior lot prices have been and still are fair, but what’s unfair is that parking that’s farther away and usually for people who can’t afford the luxury of on campus parking is now the same price. It’s ridiculous.”

By suddenly changing the policies that have been in place for ten years, it’s easy to see that many people are going to have a hard time adjusting. It also leaves students in a tough financial situation; with the expenses of gas, insurance, and maintenance that comes with a car, many students don’t have the extra cash to afford a parking pass. This is why the off campus parking being free in the past has been such a necessity for those who have a car, but not the extra funds to park in the junior or senior lots.

The general opinion of most students seems to be pretty negative towards the changes. An anonymous senior student says: “The parking has gotten progressively worse. There’s no space and everyone’s getting overcharged for parking passes”. Many people are left feeling ripped off for parking that’s farther away, and unhappy that the parking they’re being charged for was completely free a year ago.

Yes, the town of Bedford technically owns the parking lots and has the right to charge students for the use of the lots, but it seems a bit unfair of them to try and make a profit off of students who are already strapped for cash and are desperate for a place to park.