About a half mile away from the heart of campus lies a cement desert that has become the cause of some serious stress for commuters after an already long journey through traffic turmoil.  Stepping out of the car may seem like a release valve, but upon arrival to the bus depot and gazing out across a mob of commuters clamoring to get on the Express Bus revives the stress and irritation. The sound of curses and grievances under someone’s breath, pushing, shoving and line cutting are normal practices at the commuter parking lot known as South P lot.
“I get angry at all the aggression in the early morning on those days from the rude people all pushing to board the bus,” said Lauren Napoli, a senior environmental humanities major. Commuters on one side of the depot try to do the right thing by forming a line, but the opposite side create a crowd with a mob mentality. “It is no way to start a long day of classes,” Napoli said.
For obvious reasons, this is true. Arriving on campus should be calming as a student prepares for a full day of learning.  That process is obstructed when a person must literally battle with others to just get onto campus.
Thankfully,  South P is not always in a state of pandemonium such as it is at specific time frames.  Usually the crowd is orderly and  friendly as are the bus drivers’ greetings upon entrance to the humble shuttle. A few alterations may be all that is needed to correct the disorganization at the lot. The formation of lines seem to be a good suggestion when noticing all the confusion as to who is next to board the bus.  Another contributing factor in the madness is the point at which buses pick up students.  A clear designated spot at which this is done would be a quick cure for this.
For a university that has a commanding commuter population of almost 50 percent, these problems demand interest. Director of Transportation and Parking Services, James O’Connor says “the problem is on our radar. ” O’Connor states that the influx of parking during this time is “a bell curve that peaks around 9:45 a.m. possibly due to concentrated class scheduling.”
The Department of Transportation has experienced recent complaints about this specific subject as of late.  On Wednesday, March 9 the department had a meeting about specific problems that students were having relating to transportation.  O’Connor said that the department regularly has meetings that students are highly encouraged to participate in to receive feedback. The feedback allows the transportation department to create “punch-lists” to which they can effectively cure students complaints. Napoli said that she had emailed Commuter Assistance about this specific problem and did not receive a response back, revealing a lack of communication between departments.
There is an open space in the front row of the hope parking lot.  The problem has been recognized by the proper authorities. Hopefully in the not so distant future, frustrated obscenities and bruised shoulders will no longer be a concern for commuter students who already combat honking horns and near-miss collisions in the early morning hours. O’Connor along with David McAvoy, the Transportation Fleet manager, made assurances that the problem was being assessed and measures would be made.  The South P lot, in general, will be undergoing a transition of “beautification”, as O’Connor put it, “to increase the satisfaction and expectations of students who attend the university.”

Evan Livingston is a commuter student