Congrats Triton commuters, you’ve made it to college — except you live off campus and your classes are probably more than an hour away from home with traffic. Whether you’re a frantic first-year or a continuing student looking to survive yet another quarter, you’ve come to the right place. With a year of commuting under my belt, rest assured you can trust me! Before forgetting to pay for parking on the ParkMobile app and getting hit with that $85 ticket or mindlessly doomscrolling during the entire five-hour gap between your classes, consult this guide!
As you may know, UC San Diego has little on-campus parking for commuter students. For free all-day parking, I recommend parking at nearby trolley stations like Balboa Avenue or Nobel Drive and taking the trolley to UCSD Central Campus Station. Keep in mind that most stations’ parking spots fill up by 8 a.m.
Though San Diego’s public transit system is incredibly convenient, its main downside is safety. Coming from someone who’s seen just about everything that can go down at a trolley station: Stay vigilant! Carry pepper spray or a personal safety alarm, keep your headphones off and use the buddy system at night.
If the trolley isn’t your cup of tea, finding workarounds can be tough. This year, parking on campus has become increasingly more difficult as parking lots are reserved for upper division students only.
However, parking on campus isn’t impossible. For freshmen or sophomores, I recommend trying to plead your case to UCSD Transportation Services in hopes of obtaining a student permit, known as an S permit. To do this you’ll need to apply for a parking exception. As a junior or senior you can also park in D lots, off-campus discount lots. From there, take my tried and true: the Regents Express, a shuttle that runs Monday through Friday until 10 p.m., taking you to campus in just six minutes.
By now I’m sure you’ve heard of the different parking permits available on campus, but what is the difference between them? Worry not, this interactive parking map breaks down all parking lots by permit type. Make sure to read the fine print and actually remember to pay — take it from me.
Great, you’ve finally found parking! Now you have to be productive. No more “I’ll do this at home” — we both know you’re not going to. With that three-hour lab, your weekly club meeting and the long trek to and from school, it’s unlikely you’ll feel the motivation to even open Canvas.
Geisel Library might seem like the place to be, but you’ll need a spot that’s commuter friendly, a place with more amenities — an accessible restroom, a microwave to heat up last night’s leftovers, a refrigerator to store your snacks and comfy study spots with enough outlets to charge your Apple ecosystem. Consider checking out one of the UCSD community centers. You can also head over to Price Center, which houses a commuter lounge, commuter fridge and commuter lockers — on top of plenty of study nooks and restaurants. Why not grab a Baja Blast before your afternoon lock-in? I think we can agree that missing out on the “college experience” is a familiar worry for any commuter. While the rest of your peers are moving into their dorms and forming lifelong bonds with roommates, you feel stuck in an endless loop of traffic and social alienation — not to twist the knife.
Still, no matter if you live 20 minutes or two hours away from UCSD, don’t let distance stop you from becoming more involved. Although your undergraduate experience might not look like the one in the movies, you still have plenty of opportunities to connect, learn and thrive. You belong on this campus and you’re here for a reason! The right people won’t care if you live in Pepper Canyon West or in your childhood home with your cat.
It might be challenging to romanticize the commuter student experience, but try to think on the bright side this Fall Quarter. For starters, no stinky communal bathrooms shared between 16 people or food poisoning from mysterious dining hall chicken — that sounds like a win to me.