Karen Jason,
Bridgewater State University“As the Vice President for Operations, I am responsible for ensuring we manage parking across our campus, along with the Traffic and Parking Committee chairperson. We understand that sometimes it can be frustrating finding a space, but we have made several changes to alleviate this stress. Below is an update on parking for commuters and residents including new and returning students as we complete the first three weeks of the semester.
Over the past several years the number of residential students with a car on campus (freshman through senior) has continued to grow. The University works hard to accommodate everyone, and this does mean that our parking lots do fill to capacity during peak periods throughout the week. Please know that we monitor parking lots and adjust to accommodate peak parking demand as each semester progresses. In the fall 2022 semester we added 54 resident spaces in the Harrington lot. As a result of monitoring student parking in the first three weeks of this semester, we will be adding another 54 resident spaces in Harrington parking lot beginning the week of September 25th. We are able to do this by moving "carpool" parking spaces out of the Harrington lot and into the West Campus lot, and by re-designating approximately 38 faculty/staff spaces in the Harrington lot to residents.
Currently we have distributed 1,379 resident parking decals and have allocated 1,464 resident parking spaces arrayed across campus. We have distributed approximately 2,506 commuter student decals and have allocated 1,714 commuter spaces. We require fewer spaces than decals because our commuter students arrive and depart campus at different times throughout the week both day and evening.
Lastly, we want to inform you that the University is currently negotiating with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and hopes to offer an additional 130 resident parking spaces in the MBTA lot soon. Although these spaces are not available now, we hope to provide them as early as January 2024.
As we close this update, we would like to offer a couple parking tips to help navigate parking on campus. First, as a resident, always remember to look for spaces in the Swenson parking lot and the Tower parking lot. These lots typically do not fill to capacity. If you are a commuter, always consider the parking garage. These spaces usually fill last. Second, for both commuters and residents remember that BSU's bus service operates from 7am-12am Monday-Friday and 6pm-12am on Saturday and Sunday. This enables you to park anywhere on campus and ride to your destination. This is a free service.
We hope you find this parking update useful. If you have questions or concerns about parking, please don't hesitate to reach out to the Parking & Connect Card office (508) 531-2897, your student representatives on the Traffic & Parking committee, or to either of us directly at KJason@bridgew.edu and or m1carmody@bridgew.edu. We will continue providing updates during the weeks ahead.”
