FULLERTON – Classes at Cal State Fullerton began on a sour note for some Monday as a record crop of students sat miserably in their cars, stacked up three deep in the most popular lots, waiting for a precious spot to open up.

"This was just horrendous," said junior Melissa Connoly of Glendora. "I had an 8 o'clock class and I didn't find a space until 9. I expected it to be bad, but nothing like this."

At the Fullerton campus, university construction has removed 1,300 parking spaces until next year, when a 2,500-car garage opens on Nutwood Avenue. Campus police Chief Judi King said a few spaces still remained in less- well-known campus lots G and E by 10 a.m., while students prowled the closest ones in frustration.

Despite the stress, King said there were no fistfights. Each year, campus police are called out to handle students brawling over who arrived at an empty space first.

"Wait until tomorrow," King said. "Tuesday is our busiest day."

While students fumed in frustration, a plan to relieve parking woes with remote park-and-ride lots had not yet become a success.

At Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, six miles from the campus, nearly 1,000 spaces sat empty waiting for CSUF students to fill them. At 10:30 a.m. - logjam time for campus parking lots - only 18 cars were parked in the remote Anaheim park-and-ride lot that the campus has leased to help fill the demand.

"I tried for a long time to find a space, but it was too full," said senior David Glassman, explaining why he drove from his home in Fullerton to the campus and then to the Arrowhead Pond to park and ride a shuttle back to Fullerton. "I even drove up and down Nutwood and different residential streets, but there was just nothing. Finally I gave up and came here."

To cope with the shortfall, campus officials created a stack parking area in each student lot, and also added spaces along roadways that were wide enough. Altogether, the campus has 5,987 spaces for students this fall, and 1,320 for faculty and staff, spokeswoman Paula Selleck said.

Nevertheless, there could be an easier way to commute - starting next month.

On Monday, the Orange County Transportation Authority approved a plan to give unlimited, free bus service to CSUF students, faculty and staff - not just to and from campus but everywhere in the county, any time. The effort is intended to relieve campus parking shortages.

Student Matthew Martinez gave the OCTA program a ringing endorsement.

"It's great for those short-term distances," said Martinez, 22, CSUF's Associated Student Body president. "And it's stress-free because you don't have to worry about driving."

Other schools across the country already have so-called "U-Pass" programs, including the University of California, Los Angeles. But the program, also being launched at the University of California, Irvine, would be the first in Orange County.

Fullerton's campus will subsidize the program out of parking-ticket revenue and will be charged 60 cents a ride - the average revenue OCTA collects per trip.

Currently, the transit agency offers students of all ages a 30-day bus pass for $25, instead of the full $37.50 price. Seniors and disabled riders also receive discounts, but there are no programs that are free.

CSUF will begin the program Sept. 15. UCI's program will start in January. To participate, riders will need only their current college identification cards. Travel is valid on all local OCTA routes.

Martinez, who plans to try out the new service, said he'll encourage other students to use it. "You might as well give it a shot," he said, adding that riders can also save $99 per semester in parking fees.