Citrus College should create designated locations where students can be picked up and dropped off from their Uber or Lyft ride.
Most, if not all, students of Citrus commute to campus. Some students may have their own cars, some may take the local Foothill Transit buses and some may arrive by the Metro Gold Line.
However, some students arrive to school by Uber and Lyft.
The ride-sharing services have become increasingly popular to people of a younger generation.
Some may use the services to alleviate the issues of parking during the first few weeks of a new semester. Others may not be in an area where public transportation can reliably take them to Citrus College.
Some may be wondering, “What’s the point in this anyways? It’s more convenient if they arrived exactly where I was.”
Safety is a big reason on why a pickup/drop-off spot is needed.
A pickup/drop-off area would allow for a certain spot to have more surveillance by Campus Safety, ensuring extra safety for the students waiting for their ride. It would also help Campus Safety account for more students when they are all waiting in one spot, rather than if they were scattered around while waiting for their rides.
The designated pickup/drop-off areas would help drivers park for a few minutes without having to search for a random spot to pull over in the campus parking lots.
Not all drivers are familiar with Citrus College, so it would not be surprising that they may be confused on where exactly to pull over. Some drivers may accidently enter through parking lot exits, such as the ones near the library on Foothill Boulevard.
Staff and teachers who drive their own cars to work would also benefit. Designated areas would assist Uber/Lyft drivers from obstructing people parking, entrances or exits. Sometimes employees are unaware that there may be people trying to back out, and may stop then from doing so.
Since Citrus College isn’t a small school, there should be at least two or three designated spots.
In the campus parking lots, since most plausible pickup/drop-off areas seem to be fire lanes, at most two parking spots should be dedicated for a pickup/drop-off area. They should also have a time limit of five minutes so that the spots are available for more and more drivers.
Where should the designated pickup/drop-off spots be?
One spot in mind would be in the student parking lots on Citrus Avenue, facing the Student Services building.
Another spot would be near the DSPS drop off area in between the Administration Building and the Hayden Library. The road curves near that area would be a good place to drop off and pick up students without completely obstructing the area needed for any possible DSPS drop offs.
The last spot would be in the student parking lots off of Barranca.
One may think that a reasonable area for Uber/Lyft drivers to wait would be near the bus stops, however that would cause a possible obstruction to the buses that stop there or traffic in general. That would negatively affect bus riders.
Not only that, but between the intersections of Citrus Avenue and Foothill Boulevard, and Barranca Avenue and Foothill Boulevard, there are not adequate crosswalks, so in the rare event that a Uber/Lyft driver pulls over on the other side of the road, it could be potentially dangerous to not only the passengers, but to any drivers going down Foothill Boulevard.
The addition to these pickup/drop-off spots may impact students who drive, as the spots have the potential to increase flowing traffic in the parking lots and probably remove a few parking spaces.
However, it would stop students from being potentially blocked in the parking lot lanes, and it would allow drivers to have a spot where they can configure their GPS to quickly get to their next location.
Some universities such as Cal State Long Beach and UCLA, as well as community colleges such as Santa Monica College have dedicated pickup/drop-off spots for Uber and Lyft.
The first step to making these spots a reality is for the school to partner up with Uber/Lyft so that it’s easier for current and new drivers know where to go.
