By Caitlin Eliason / Staff Writer

By Caitlin Eliason / Staff Writer

Although Lot 33, the off campus parking lot, was established to mitigate parking issues, Riverside City College has decided to cancel its Friday shuttle service.

In an effort to fix parking problems caused by recent construction, RCC leased 400 parking spots off campus last spring.

Located in Downtown Riverside at Third Street and Magnolia Avenue, Lot 33 parking spots are available to any student with a valid parking permit.

Since the spots are off campus, RCC provides complimentary shuttle service to and from the lot.

However, as of Sept. 17, RCC has decided to stop the shuttle service on Fridays.

Though the lot itself will remain open, students will have no way of getting to and from the lot.

Lot 33 is a popular place to park because there are always open spaces, and students have the option of using a parking meter instead of a parking permit.

Because of its popularity, terminating the shuttle service on Fridays may not immediately seem like a necessary change.

However, it all comes down to class schedules; a majority of students do not have Friday classes.

As for the students who do have class on Fridays, more parking is available on campus.

“At least 200 students, give or take, use the shuttle service on Monday through Thursday,” said shuttle driver Letty Martin. “But on Fridays, there are only one or two students.”

While students who use the shuttle seem to be unaffected by the change, the people most affected are the shuttle drivers themselves.

There are only three shuttle drivers in total, one of which is a spare driver, but they admit this change will affect them greatly.

“This change hits us pretty hard, especially financially,” Martin said. “We are now working only four days a week, as opposed to five.”

As for the winter and summer sessions, RCC does not run the shuttles at all.

“The shuttle itself is temporary at the moment,” Martin said. “Once the new parking structure and the major construction is finished, we will not be using the shuttles at all.”