I can no longer remain silent about the atrocious parking situation on campus. As a grad student, I have access to faculty parking, but I find myself circling for a spot on an almost daily basis. This wastes gas, and I’m using my vehicle unnecessarily. This could partially be because of the on going construction. A simple solution, however, would be to allow at least faculty permits to temporarily park in the many open stadium spots, which the university fruitlessly converted to a metered lot.

I understand the university needs to enhance revenue at every stop in the administrative process by adding fees and whatnot, but as an instructor I should not be forced to choose between risking a ticket, wasting my time, and needlessly running up the mileage on my car. I may be able to talk my way out of it, but who has the time for that?

As I mentioned earlier, the amount of open stadium spots, while other spots are slim, is an abomination. The goal of the university should be to maximize parking those who need it, like commuters, visitors, instructors, and residents. This would mean eliminating as many parking meter spots as possible, and instead expanding available parking to all users.

Additionally, I see many faculty parkers putting their cars in dangerous places, unmarked spots, and spaces reserved for the handicapped, simply because they have nowhere else to put their cars. This inhibits traffic and increases the likelihood of accidents, and inconveniences everyone. I understand the need to park and get to class, but these parking marauders really make things more difficult for everyone involved.

As I understand it, a new parking garage would cost almost $200,000. Would it not be simpler to just make more spots available, and cut back on parking tickets altogether? The resources of the university are limited, but the burden should not simply be passed on to the students and teachers in the form of tickets and circling for spots.

At a university with thousands of professors, support staff, assistants and commuter students there is no good excuse not to maintain plenty parking.