When it comes to commuter parking, the lots have become one large scavenger hunt.
Frustration is one thing, but our primary concern is student safety.
BG News staff members have had numerous close encounters with other students while searching for an open spot in the crowded lots. We believe our safety should not be jeopardized because of a fear of an orange ticket on our windshields when we return.
Lots are beginning to look like race tracks – vehicles circling around and around until they see an open spot to take. With races come the probability of an accident.
Drivers come inches away from exchanging paint every day. We know because a lot of us are commuters. On some occasions, drivers have actually bumped into each other, but brushed it aside to get to class on time.
As a solution to the problem, University Parking Services recommends students leave their homes earlier, but most staff members do this already. They leave 30 to 45 minutes before class and are still unable to get a parking place.
Some students walk a mile or more to class everyday as opposed to attempting to navigate the parking lots, even though they bought a $100 commuter parking pass at the beginning of the semester. The weather may be nice now, and walking doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but when the snow begins to fall and ice takes over the sidewalks, the parking fines will spike once again.
Some students resort to metered lots, shelling out as much as $2 in quarters just to avoid a ticket. This adds up. After 50 times parking here, students may as well have bought another seemingly part-time parking pass.
Some students blatantly park in invalid parking spots – the grass, faculty lots, etc. – so they don’t have to walk into class late. They count their losses and accept parking tickets as their fate.
Students should not have to go to these measures to get to class. No student should be fined $25 to $50 for a mistake which is not theirs.
Before the fall semester started, the Ice Arena parking lot was torn up, eradicating more than 400 parking spots for commuters. The University should compensate for these spots, possibly by providing one large grass lot. The temporary spots do not need to be pretty, they just need to be functional.
While working on a story concerning commuter parking, a reporter was informed there are only 83 more spots than commuter parking passes sold. When commuters purchase a pass, they are not ensured a parking spot – or so another staff member was told
As a staff, we propose a solution: every commuter should be assigned a specific spot. Arranging for the spots would be on a first come, first serve basis. Therefore, even if your spot was in a far away lot, students could arrange for the amount of walking time to their class.
Commuters should not have to wait for the Ice Arena lot to reopen before they can arrive to class on time and unstressed.
After all, classes are hard enough – getting there shouldn’t be just as bad.
If the University is trying to convince students that living on campus is optimal, then they are doing a great job.
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