Summer always seems too short for students at Sacramento State, making the first two weeks back the biggest hassle of the semester. 

Everything from buying books and solidifying financial aid, to dropping and adding classes is a headache. But what seems to be the biggest issue with the first two weeks is the parking situation. 

Heading West on I-50 towards Sac State, the traffic entering  Howe Avenue can cause a delay of more than an hour and a half. 

From La Riviera Drive,  the cars are backed up past Salmon Falls bike trail, making it an hour to travel ten miles. 

Even downtown, students have to leave their place an hour before class starts even though they live within a five-mile radius. 

Senior pre-nursing major Brenta Rodriguez, 21, said she hates dealing with morning traffic. She is one of the many students who live on La Riviera and are inconvenienced by backed up traffic every school day. 

“Parking was a bitch,” Rodriguez said. “ It took me thi 30 minutes to even get to school. I had to park in the very back lot next to the Sac State sign. Plus, the only reason I even got that spot was because someone happened to get out at the time I drove up.” 

It’s ridiculous that each student who pays $162 for a parking pass has to wait in long lines, fight people for openings, or my personal favorite, stalk people walking to their car. Some students just avoid the parking situation all together. 

Junior criminal justice major Maurice White, 31, is a transfer student and heard the rumors of the awful parking situation. Coming to a new school for the first time, he figured he better make other transportation options for himself on the first day of school, just in case the stories were true – sure enough, they were. 

“I refuse to park [on campus]. I park off campus, then take the bus to school,” White said. “There’s no way I would deal with all that and pay over $150. So I’ll just avoid everything and park for free.”

Instead of spending money on new renovations in The Well or Union, the school should do something about the parking situation. 

Parking garages are helpful because of the multiple levels, but that does nothing for me when I drive around five floors for no available parking. 

Sac State should jump on board with what some garages in downtown Sacramento have done by installing meters to indicate when the garage is full or how many spots are left. 

Another idea that has already been implemented at Stanford University is the freshman vehicle restriction.

Students shouldn’t care exactly what the school does to help the situation, just as long as something is getting done about it. 

Waiting over an hour in traffic just to get to class on time is ridiculous for anyone.