The opening sentence from the University Web site’s Parking Services and Transportation page reads, “The University strongly encourages alternative modes of transportation and the use of mass transit systems.”
The fact that parking at the University remains nothing short of a mess is common knowledge. For many students, the day’s most tumultuous moment comes before ever setting foot on campus, as they and their peers do battle for the vaunted spoils of a permit-authorized parking spot.
This year, students paid more than $100 to secure a parking permit, which they were led to believe would allow them to park in a number of student-designated spots as outlined on the Parking Services map of available spots for students. Some of these spots were equipped with parking meters, but students with permits, who had already paid their dues, were exempt from plunking their change in the meters. It came as an unpleasant surprise for many, to put it mildly, that after the majority of students had purchased their parking permits, and began parking this fall at what they had grown accustomed to as permit-designated locations, to have these spots ripped from underneath their tires and replaced with tickets on their windshields. Inconvenience turned to full-blown resentment.
Among the areas no longer available for student parking: East 15th Avenue, near the Bean dormitories; the west side of Agate Street, next to Hayward Field; and 18th Avenue, spanning from Agate to University streets. Temporary parking has been made available in a gravel lot – far from any building that hosts classes – near the future site of the University basketball arena, but as the prospect of construction and the anticipated influx of fans to the 2008 Olympic Trials near, officials cannot expect this lot to be available much longer.
Parking at the University falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Safety. Complaints made to the department over the lack of parking availability, while not falling on deaf ears, are often met with a ‘What do you want us to do about it?’ mentality.
The Web site continues: “When considering the population density in the University area and the large number of people coming and going, it is easy to understand that if everyone drove their car, the congestion created from noise, exhaust, and space would diminish the quality of the campus environment. Please make an effort to use an alternative means of transportation as your method for commuting to our campus.”
It’s difficult to accept environmental consciousness as a viable rationale in overlooking the state of student parking. While it is doable and expected for some, driving to campus for many students is unavoidable, and roughly 700 parking spots for approximately 20,000 students is simply unacceptable. It becomes even more frustrating to search for parking in lots designated for students, only to find many of the highly coveted spots reserved for faculty. The burdens of a college student often do not allow for a regular plan in avoiding the drive while still arriving on time for classes. Furthermore, some students must stay on campus until late into the evening, long after the operating hours of public transportation, and walking home in such cases would be, simply put, unsafe.
Students bought permits in order to avoid having to pay parking meters. Now, they are forced to do both, and often end up with a ticket to top it all off. The University should have better informed students that there would be fewer parking places available this year and adjusted its parking map to reflect the changes. Had it properly informed the student body, many would have chosen not to bother wasting more than $100 on a permit that would provide them little to no use anyway. Instead, the price of the permit increased, and conveniently, so did the price of the parking tickets.