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Parking?

 
Old 08-23-2007 at 09:53 PM   #1
SaraM
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Parking?
Hey, so I was just wondering about parking on campus.
I went to the website and it said undergrads are allowed to park in zone 6. After looking at the campus map, the lot is really far away. I have my own car and i live in oakville, how often do first years head home?

So, is paying the $300+ and the long-ass walk worth it?
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Old 08-23-2007 at 10:47 PM   #2
lorend
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I believe you would be able to get a ride on a shuttle bus...

But, to answer your question about going home, it really depends. Some people go home every weekend. Some people only go home at Christmas. It depends on your ties to your high school friends, as well as your family, and residence experience.

Personally, I'd reconmend for you to leave the car at home; you get a free bus pass in Hamilton anyway...so why waste your money on gas when you don't have to?
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Old 08-23-2007 at 11:36 PM   #3
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okay, thanks.
i was thinking of doing that, i was just worried about taking a bus and then go train into oakville, i'm not very good with schedules and hoping on right buses... i've gotten on wrong buses, or off at wrong stops a few times, so its always a worry in the back of my mind.
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Old 08-23-2007 at 11:38 PM   #4
lorend
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Compass can point you in the right direction.

There is also a GO bus to Oakville, which is probably easier than the train...
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Old 08-24-2007 at 10:33 AM   #5
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As mentioned, there is a free shuttle bus. And it goes around quite frequently through all the zones that are far away, and then drops you off by Mary Keyes residence, so you don't need to walk far if you take the shuttle.
Old 07-14-2008 at 05:45 PM   #6
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Does anybody know why undergrads can only park in zone 6? It's so far from the residences, and there seams to be plenty of parking spaces available right by the residence buildings.
Old 07-14-2008 at 06:02 PM   #7
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The parking spaces closer to the residences are generally reserved for students who are commuting. They are also more expensive, as you are getting a better parking spot. You are allowed to park in these parking lots on the weekends though.
Old 07-14-2008 at 06:32 PM   #8
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Honestly though. If you don't plan to go home often, you might as well commute. The bus that takes you to the Oakville carpool comes every half an hour so if you miss a bus, you wait half an hour. Plus, the car would be sitting there a lot and not be used. We have the free bus pass (well we pay for it in our fees) so we go around everywhere with the bus. I didn't find it necessary to have a car and many other students don't either. It may or may not be useful. Maybe you can try it out for a couple of months and see if it's worth it or not.
Old 07-15-2008 at 11:24 AM   #9
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Public Transit is key! GO buses come about every half an hour as Nicole mentioned. And provided you are a full-time undergraduate student, you are able to apply for a GO student ID card, which gets you a discount on all ten ride and monthly passes for GO bus.

(More info on that to come in August when the application goes up again).
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Old 07-15-2008 at 12:34 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kayli View Post
Does anybody know why undergrads can only park in zone 6? It's so far from the residences, and there seams to be plenty of parking spaces available right by the residence buildings.
All those parking spots are reserved for faculty and staff. There's actually quite a parking shortage on the main campus of Mac (i.e., around the actual buildings, not down in zone 6/7). While there may be seem to be plenty of spaces looking at a map, they're virtually all full every single weekday. As was also mentioned, they pay a LOT more for them because they are closer, and you can move your car up to those lots on the weekend if you'd like since they're quite empty at that time (just make sure you move it back by ~7 am Monday morning or you'll get a ticket!).

Quote:
Originally Posted by nicole.h View Post
The parking spaces closer to the residences are generally reserved for students who are commuting.
I'm sure thousands of students wished that were true, but sadly, all undergrads are exiled down to zone 6 (or haven't they given letters to the lots this year? I think it's now zone M or something! Sacrilege! :p)

Since most of the parking is becoming automated this year, I just found out that an unfortunate side effect of this is that there won't be nearly as much free parking for non-permit holders. Since you need a transponder to open the gates to the parking lots (and they stay shut 24/7), if you don't have one, you have to pay to park there regardless of whether or not it's 10 pm or on a Sunday (which are examples of times when you could just park without a permit with no problems). The only exceptions to his are a few areas where they can't gate off (like the parking spots in front of Commons, around Bates Circle, and in front of ABB). It kinda sucks for visitors who will be getting milked out of a lot of extra money once those few spaces fill up.
Old 07-15-2008 at 08:46 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cippi View Post
and you can move your car up to those lots on the weekend if you'd like since they're quite empty at that time (just make sure you move it back by ~7 am Monday morning or you'll get a ticket!).
Okay, since I'm planning on going home pretty much every weekend (for now ) and taking my car (as I've calculated, that would end up being cheaper for me than taking a bus), would it at all be possible for me to park the car in front of my residence shortly while I load/unload my car on Fridays and Mondays, or would I most likely get a ticket for that?

Note that I probably wouldn't be getting to school before 7 am on Monday mornings. That's waaaaay too early.
Old 07-15-2008 at 11:56 PM   #12
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Officially, you can't get a free pass just to load/unload in front of a residence. As a practical matter, however, if you leave your car there for a few minutes, the likelihood of a Parking officer coming around in that time is quite low (just try to minimize it). I can't guarantee anything on Monday mornings (I checked to be sure, the cut-off time is actually 7:30 am, if that helps a bit :p), but if it's after 3:30 pm on a Friday, then you can actually park for free near the residences, so that should help.
Old 07-16-2008 at 12:50 AM   #13
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Aaand with the new transponders there actually supposed to be increasing the size of all of the main campus lots...which means more parking spots!

But that doesn't mean you'll end up with one on campus...it is a lottery after all! Kind of like the res system...
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Old 07-16-2008 at 08:58 AM   #14
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Starting this year you will no longer be able to park in other parking lots unless you have a transponder for that parking lot. Parking Services is putting in gates to all the parking lots which means you have to pay even when you're parking at night. It used to be that between 8pm and 8am you could park for free cause there was no one around to hand out tickets but now with the gates you will have to pay all the time, weekends, evenings, everything.
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Old 07-21-2008 at 06:18 PM   #15
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Ok, and, just to make sure, is zone 6/lot M the only one I can even apply for? Or can I apply for one closer to my rez and hope for the best?



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