Parking at the Dean Smith Center
One of the reasons I prefer watching Carolina games on TV instead of going to the games is
parking. If you've ever been to a game at the Dean Dome, you know what I'm talking about. The parking situation is sub-optimal to put it nicely. At Late Night with Roy, I parked in the Craige parking deck and it took a full hour to get out of the deck and on the road. We didn't move for a solid 30 minutes.
So for the recent Penn game I attended, I decided to try a different option. I'd heard a lot about
Park and Ride, but hadn't tried it before. The idea is that you park at one of the designated off-campus lots and a bus takes you to the Smith Center. After the game, a bus is waiting outside to take you back.
I parked at the
Friday Center and caught the bus. I parked no problem and got on the bus. However, we had to wait until the bus was completely packed with no available seats or standing room. That took about 20 minutes. Not a big deal. The bus got to the Smith Center in about 15 minutes after we left the Friday Center.
Using Park and Ride to get to the Smith Center wasn't a bad deal. However, returning was a little more painful. I watched the game to the final second unlike half the crowd which left early. I bet many of the people that left early were park and ride-ers! When I got outside and figured out which line I needed to wait in for the Friday Center bus, the line was already backed up (picture below). I had to wait about 25 minutes before getting on the bus and then another 10 minutes to get back to the Friday Center (I had to stand on the bus since all the seats were taken).
Would I do it again? Maybe. I think next time I'll try parking at a lot that is a little farther out from the Smith Center. The Craige Deck is close to the Smith Center so it gets really congested. Parking a little farther out means a longer walk to the deck, but in the past I've been able to get out much quicker. Park and ride is a decent option if you don't want to deal with waiting in your car or in traffic, but you still have to wait in line to get on the bus. If the weather was bad, this wouldn't work very well either.
