As the discussion of COC student parking goes forward, I certainly hope they table the idea of a remote lot where students would hire UBER or LYFT to take them to and from the lot to campus.
Students already pay for a parking permit, and to add this expense is ridiculous.
In addition, the safety of the students needs to be addressed. Would you want to be picked up by some random driver who has supposedly been checked out by the company? Problems with proper background checks, etc., have already been brought to the news.
A free shuttle servicing the lot, back and forth like a city bus, on a schedule so students can plan, is the better, safest option. Hopefully, COC is considering building multi-level parking on existing on-campus lots, making the remote lots a temporary fix while construction for the on-campus parking is established.
Solar panels on the top level could power lighting within the structure. Just like downtown Newhall, free and ample parking is necessary to draw people into the area. At COC, you want the priority to be safe parking with easy, free accessibility to campus.
Barbara Gassner
Santa Clarita
Editor’s note: College of the Canyons Bond Measure E, passed by voters in June 2016, provides for some 1,000 additional parking spaces on the COC Valencia campus.
