To help alleviate students’ financial burden and aid with the transition back to in-person classes, parking on the El Camino College campus is free for the spring 2022 semester.

El Camino College’s (ECC) Office of Marketing and Communications announced in an email on Feb. 9 that parking permits or daily parking passes are no longer necessary throughout the term.

Peyton Thompson, a biology major at ECC, is one of the students that drives a personal vehicle to campus and benefits from the lifted parking fees.

“I don’t qualify for financial aid (FAFSA) so it’s hard for my family to put me through school,” Thompson said. “Having that fee lifted this semester has given a little bit of ease, allowed us to purchase textbooks without stressing as much about how much money we’re spending per semester.”

Thompson said that the added financial ease also eliminates parking costs as an obstacle in students’ decision of taking online versus in-person classes.

Associated Students Organization Parking and Traffic Council student representative, Nael Salinas, also referenced on-campus activity as one of the reasons for the lifted fees.

“One of the purposes [of waived parking] was to increase more student involvement on campus,” Salinas said. “We do hope to see an increase in enrollment for on-campus classes.”

The new parking implementations also changed students’ and staff’s transportation habits, especially those who need to be on campus regularly.

“For [situations] like, ‘Oh, I have to worry about parking on the street or a few blocks [away from ECC] because I don’t have the money today or for the following week’. That’s not an issue anymore,” Salinas said.

While parking is waived for the academic term, emails and announcements featured on El Camino’s Canvas page urge students not to park in the faculty, staff or reserved areas, as they are only allowed to park in student designated areas.

Thompson said that she mistakenly parked in the faculty and staff parking on the first day, and could see newcomers and returning students also being unaware of the restrictions after not being on campus for two years.

“Something that would have helped me on my first day back on campus was, say you take Manhattan Beach Boulevard and then you turn left towards the parking lot — if it had noted on that sign that level one was for staff only, definitely that would have helped me,” Thompson said.

The Parking and Traffic council at El Camino noted to make this labeling change throughout the semester to guide students and staff alike.

“The issue is being addressed in the last meetings,” Salinas said. “[We may look into] re-signing or rebranding of reserved spots so that there is a distinguishing mark or indicator of where the students may or may not park.”

Part-time faculty librarian Janet Garcia recognizes that there has indeed been some confusion, but said students parking on faculty lots hasn’t affected her personal experience in parking availability.

“I haven’t had an issue,” Garcia said. “Every time I come, there is parking for faculty or staff parking. I think there being less students and less staff for that matter also helped with [availability].”

“As time goes on, people are starting to figure out what time works best for them as far as what point to arrive, so currently, I have figured out that I can leave 20 minutes later than I thought I had to,” Thompson said.

The possible implementation of having parking free until the fall 2022 semester to promote more in-person classes is discussed by Parking and Traffic Council as well.

“I think it’s definitely benefiting students, simply because of the times we’re going through because of COVID, and definitely in terms of financial matters,” Garcia said. “I am totally for it.”