Allow BCIT students to park in staff lots during construction crisis
The Issue
As a student at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), it's frustrating to find a parking spot, even in the early hours. Over recent months, student parking lots are being taken up rapidly for construction on the Burnaby campus. This has left many of us scrambling to find a spot, resulting in arriving hours early for classes just to possibly secure a spot near our buildings. This causes tension around campus in the early hours, with some people driving aggressively to potentially secure one of the last available spots. When walking across campus for 30 minutes to class from the only parking spot left, we are welcomed to the campus by a public display of a windshield barnacle. This is essentially mocking our struggle, as a roughly $50,000 SUV with a BCIT logo on the side is used for this display when students are struggling to get an education and stay alive in these financially challenging times.
The construction has affected us deeply, as key student parking lots like Lot F, Lot A, Lot N, and Lot M have been occupied by ongoing projects. We have lost access to 593 student parking stalls, with 453 stalls being permanently occupied by new infrastructure being built on student lots. As a result, students are forced to park further away in unauthorized spots or in inaccessible areas, driving aggressively to potentially get the last spot left in a lot, impacting our educational accessibility, our punctuality, increasing risk for accidents or injury, and adding unnecessary stress to our daily routines. Since BCIT is building on top of previously student-reserved lots without warning, we expect the administration to recognize this as unfair to the student population requiring change to compensate.
This petition is to request a temporary solution: allowing students to use staff parking areas, specifically P23, P25, and P7, to meet the demand. An adjustment allowing students to park in staff lots would lift this burden off of hard-working learners. This adjustment would create a more balanced allocation of available spaces. Access to these parking stalls at peak morning hours would alleviate some of the parking stress.
With many areas across the Lower Mainland under continuous construction, travel times are increasing, adding to the time we spend commuting to secure a parking spot. It is unreasonable to expect students to always arrive hours before classes amidst already heavy academic workloads, just to park their vehicles in paid student parking lots managed by a private parking company.
By temporarily opening up staff parking lots for students, BCIT can alleviate the excessive congestion and inconvenience caused by the rapid reduction of student parking spaces. It would demonstrate a commitment to supporting the student body during this challenging period of construction and growth.
Please join me in signing this petition to urge BCIT administration to make this crucial change, ensuring that education accessibility and student welfare remain a priority even during times of necessary development on our campus.
To provide us with your observations, concerns, or comments, please visit the survey linked below!
945
The Issue
As a student at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), it's frustrating to find a parking spot, even in the early hours. Over recent months, student parking lots are being taken up rapidly for construction on the Burnaby campus. This has left many of us scrambling to find a spot, resulting in arriving hours early for classes just to possibly secure a spot near our buildings. This causes tension around campus in the early hours, with some people driving aggressively to potentially secure one of the last available spots. When walking across campus for 30 minutes to class from the only parking spot left, we are welcomed to the campus by a public display of a windshield barnacle. This is essentially mocking our struggle, as a roughly $50,000 SUV with a BCIT logo on the side is used for this display when students are struggling to get an education and stay alive in these financially challenging times.
The construction has affected us deeply, as key student parking lots like Lot F, Lot A, Lot N, and Lot M have been occupied by ongoing projects. We have lost access to 593 student parking stalls, with 453 stalls being permanently occupied by new infrastructure being built on student lots. As a result, students are forced to park further away in unauthorized spots or in inaccessible areas, driving aggressively to potentially get the last spot left in a lot, impacting our educational accessibility, our punctuality, increasing risk for accidents or injury, and adding unnecessary stress to our daily routines. Since BCIT is building on top of previously student-reserved lots without warning, we expect the administration to recognize this as unfair to the student population requiring change to compensate.
This petition is to request a temporary solution: allowing students to use staff parking areas, specifically P23, P25, and P7, to meet the demand. An adjustment allowing students to park in staff lots would lift this burden off of hard-working learners. This adjustment would create a more balanced allocation of available spaces. Access to these parking stalls at peak morning hours would alleviate some of the parking stress.
With many areas across the Lower Mainland under continuous construction, travel times are increasing, adding to the time we spend commuting to secure a parking spot. It is unreasonable to expect students to always arrive hours before classes amidst already heavy academic workloads, just to park their vehicles in paid student parking lots managed by a private parking company.
By temporarily opening up staff parking lots for students, BCIT can alleviate the excessive congestion and inconvenience caused by the rapid reduction of student parking spaces. It would demonstrate a commitment to supporting the student body during this challenging period of construction and growth.
Please join me in signing this petition to urge BCIT administration to make this crucial change, ensuring that education accessibility and student welfare remain a priority even during times of necessary development on our campus.
To provide us with your observations, concerns, or comments, please visit the survey linked below!
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Petition created on September 15, 2026