By: Katherine Downey

Staff Writer

The ability to buy parking permits online is the newest news to hit campus this quarter. When students stood in line along with hundreds of others to get their parking permit this year, they were met with the surprising news that they could now buy them online.

According to the Vice President of External Affairs, Emily Schnell, “Having the parking permits available online cuts down on the lines and makes life easier by giving students the option. And options are of great value for college students who are always pressed for time.”

Schell added that students were “strongly encouraged the previous quarter through massive emails sent to the entire associated student body and flyers attached to parking permits.”

Most people on campus has made the mistake of waiting until the first day of school to buy their parking permit and then end up standing in line for hours, not to mention the chance of getting a ticket while waiting in line to get the permit. Schnell also said that students could “buy their parking permit online, print out the receipt and set it on the dash of their car as a temporary permit for up to fourteen days until their actual permit arrives in the mail.

“The new system of buying the permits online “cut the lines down by 20 percent” this past quarter, said Schell.

Senior music major, Peter Crawford said that he “likes the new system of buying the permits online.” He also said “I can’t handle waiting in line. So buying my permit online is great.”

“There is no reason to wait in line if you can buy the permit ahead of time online,” said Crawford.

Bailey Torres, a senior English major said that she “totally forgot about the permits being online this quarter.”

“I stood in line with all the hundreds of other students to get my permit,” said Torres. “I could have saved myself over an hour and gotten it online.”

She also went on to say, “I will definitely be using the online system to purchase my permit from now on. It saves so much time and energy on my part.”

Roia Liljeroos, a senior English major, said she thinks “it’s helpful because sometimes my parking permit expires before I buy a new one and there are lines. So being able to buy online will be nice.”

“I didn’t buy it this time online, but I do plan on buying them online in the future,” said Liljeroos.

“I’m pretty optimistic about it,” said Allysa Jones, a senior English major. She went on to say, “I’m familiar with buying parking permits online from when I was a student at BC. It was really easy.”

Jones also said that she “hasn’t bought the permit online yet” but she “will in the future.”

Schnell, along with the rest of the ASI board, hopes that buying permits online will catch on with students, saving them major time and energy by avoiding the hours spent in the permit line.