It is a well-known fact among Central students that parking sucks. If you want to park at Central and do not have access to a senior parking pass, you are screwed. You must either rely on extremely limited free parking, spend at least $40 per month, or use unreliable busing.
While public transit and school transportation are options for many, there are cracks in this seemingly perfect option.
OPS recently also lengthened the distance from the bus stop to a student’s house. For high school, the distance is eight to 10 blocks, or about half a mile. Half a mile can be a long way in rain, snow or blistering heat.
I took the bus for my entire freshman year and the first three months of sophomore year before I could drive myself. In my experience, OPS busing is semi-reliable, with my driver last year being late to my stop in the morning and late for pickup at school in the afternoon. This disrupted both my parents and their job, as they dropped me off at my stop, and my own work schedule as I could not get home on time to make it to work because my driver was consistently late.
The senior lot is $40 per year, but the spots are extremely limited. First, you must be a senior to apply. Second, it is a raffle, and you are not guaranteed a spot, even if you meet the class requirement.
The “junior lot” has not been an option for several years now. It used to be under the I-480 overpass on Cass Street. The overpass has been under construction for many years, rendering the lot unusable. The city then bought the land, and it is still affected by construction. The junior lot ran similarly to the senior lot, as you had to get a pass at a fixed fee at the beginning of the school year. There are now two classes, juniors and sophomores, vying for parking close to Central.
Most student drivers I know park in the ParkOmaha garage on 19th and Capitol Avenue. The garage is spacious, and ParkOmaha makes it quite easy to call and reserve a spot. They have no daily parking passes, so you pay for a month at a time. The monthly pass is $50. Many students and families cannot sacrifice approximately $500 a year for just parking. You then must trek up the infamous “hill,” which is quite unpleasant during wintry weather.
Other common parking spots for students are meters. There is a plethora of parking meters near Central. During school hours, the meters can cost up to $10 per day. This adds up to over $2,000 for the entire school year.
The only free parking is “the hill.” This space has about 30 spots for students to park in. It is on a first come, first served basis and fills up way before school starts.
Central students deserve close, affordable parking. This will promote student independence and contribute to students’ overall feelings about Central. If questions like where you are going to park, how you are going to pay for it, when to pay for it, and how early you must leave to find a spot were not always on the minds of enrolled students and students considering Central, it could dramatically increase attendance. Students should not have to pay to get to school.
