Imagine waking up extra early, leaving a half-hour to an hour before class just to get a good commuter parking spot that isn’t available and then driving in circles, hoping to catch the break lights of a departing car.

This is the daily routine for many of the University’s commuters.

Heidi Habecker, senior, finds driving around in circles each morning to be a frustrating ritual.

“It’s like a big rat race. It’s brutal, I’ve seen people fighting over parking spots,” Habecker said.

While there are technically spots available to all the commuters issued a parking pass, most of the spots left are a far distance from the main campus for Melanie Seda, graduate student.

“They’re [the lots] in awkward places,” Seda said. “I park over by the ice arena and I have to cross Mercer and I’m afraid that sometimes people aren’t looking and I might get hit.”

But open spaces and adequate parking are there for commuters, said Stacie Enriquez, administrative officer for the Department of Public Safety.

“Actually, we always have available space, it may not be where people want it but we have it,” Enriquez said, adding that the University is a pedestrian campus, therefore parking is not necessarily right next to the buildings.

Chandra Niklewski, a senior who commutes from Maumee, has to leave an hour before her class just so she has time to drive around searching for a vacant spot and then walk to her class.

“I easily give up five hours a week,” Niklewski said. “That’s five hours less that I have to study and do other things.”

She also sacrifices picking up her daughter from school each day in order to find a decent parking spot.

Compared to the past, commuter parking has improved recently, with lots added over the years as needed, Enriquez said.

An example of a recent parking provision made is the paving of commuter parking Lot 4, located behind the University heating plant and across from Pike Street.

It will be accessible in mid-November, pending no weather delays.

Shuttle Service Manager Fred Smith also agreed that there isn’t enough convenient parking in the afternoon, and suggested that commuters leave their places later, park by the Visitor’s Center, and take the bus into campus.

“I think we all need to figure out what we want and then go from there,” Smith said. “We’re too dependent on our vehicles.”

In Smith’s opinion, the inner campus parking lots, which are primarily staff parking, should be “dozed over” and more buses added.

“It would be easier to get the buses around and a lot safer for the pedestrians,” Smith said.

Bob Mason, a supervisor in the Parking office, said that a plan to build a parking garage exists, but is part of a 25 year “master plan,” therefore making the time of this project undetermined.

Habecker, who heard rumors about a parking garage, thought it sounded like a good solution for everyone.

“I know there’s not a whole lot of land to build around so they need to build up, like a parking garage,” said Habecker.

Niklewski also agreed with the idea of a parking garage as long as the security was good, adding that when she’s running late she has to park in the metered parking lots, which are usually empty.

“Why not just take some of the meters out because they’re not being used anyway, so people can park there,” Niklewski said.

Seda also agrees that an expansion of commuter parking in the near future of some sort would be helpful.

“They just need more parking.,” Seda said. “I don’t know if there is an area that is partial to expand, but there’s just not enough.”