Parking on any campus is a hot topic, whether at a four-year university or a community college. Whether students purchase the semester pass or a daily pass, driving to school comes at a cost. Because community college students do not typically attend classes on a Monday through Friday basis, Cuesta College has two different permit options to accommodate how often students need to park on campus. Cuesta’s semester pass is $40. The daily pass runs students $4.

The Cuesta College Police Department said it works with all students based on their financial needs. If a student becomes past due on a parking violation, they can request time to pay it off either in full or based on a needs-specific payment plan. 

“Citations, some of them off support the police department, public safety, so we can provide services, which is everything from traffic enforcement, vehicle unlocks, patrol, the parking lots,” Chief Rich Randolph said. “We have one of the safest parking lots in California for community colleges. We’ve only had one break-in [to a vehicle] in the last two years that was recorded and reported to us.” 

While most of the money that the Cuesta PD receives goes back into public safety and keeping everyone on campus feeling secure, some goes back into the maintenance and upkeep of the parking lots. “Usually 25-30% goes back to the parking lots and the traffic. So that’s everything from traffic enforcement as well as striping red curbs, signage and maintaining parking kiosks,” Randolph said. “This lets people know your parking lots are safe.”