Is anyone else frustrated by our poor parking situation? Getting anywhere on campus this semester seems to take weeks, and forget about finding a spot before 5 p.m.!
Ever wonder why it’s so hard to find a spot these days? Well, for one thing, in an Aug. 25 Reflector article, Mike Harris, director of Parking Service, said parking services oversold parking spaces by 50 percent. Really, 50 percent?! That is ridiculous!
Do they not expect people to use the $85 pass they purchased? Because parking spots are so limited, people have to make their own parking spaces in grass or gravel around the actual parking lots. Of course if they do this, they get a ticket. Is that really fair when it’s the system itself that fails to provide adequate parking?
“Park at the coliseum,” these students are told. If they have an East Zone pass, however, and end up at the coliseum, they are almost guaranteed to be late for class. That’s a long walk! Not to mention, coliseum parking is generally just as full as elsewhere.
When it was raining constantly for the last two weeks, parking and traffic were even worse. People who normally walked or rode their bike chose to drive to avoid getting soaked. This simply complicated the matter further. Parking Services, if you are reading this, something must be done!
There have been rumors that a parking garage is going to be built. These have been flying around since I came to school here two years ago, and others have told me it’s been said even before that. I’ve read article after article about the parking garage that would be built behind the post office, hopefully by 2010.
Must we have this monstrosity built in the middle of our beautiful campus? Is it a necessary evil, or just a poor solution to an ever-growing problem? To quote the parking article from Jan. 18, 2008, in this paper, Bill Broyles, the assistant vice president for student affairs, said, “The pricing is going to be astronomical.”
Harris said in another article on Sept. 9, 2008, paved parking spaces cost between $3,000 and $3,500 each. A space in this new parking garage would be even worse, hitting between $14,000 and $18,000! This all seems absurd! Hasn’t anyone taken the time to look at other solutions? How do other schools manage parking? How about other countries?
Many other schools, and especially countries, have pretty impressive public transportation systems. Why can’t we follow suit? I wonder why everyone has overlooked the obvious: our shuttle system. The school would not have to build more parking lots, using up valuable space and money, if they improved the shuttles.
“The Loop” was added last year, and while I appreciate this effort, it’s clearly not enough. We need more shuttles running the routes. It would be much, much cheaper to buy more shuttles and add them to the routes than building more parking lots. Parking Services can’t possibly be afraid of losing money; they’re already not gaining any ground because of the amount each spot costs, unless of course they plan on continually overselling parking spots by 50 percent.
People could park near their residence halls or by the coliseum and take shuttles all day without having to worry about where to park or being late to their next class. If stops were added at apartments where large numbers of students lived, such as 21 and Campus Trails, it would be even better.
This plan would save resources such as land for future buildings, and most importantly, the all-essential money. The proposed parking garage would be a huge eyesore in the middle of our lovely campus, and we have been told how draining it would be on our assets.
So why do some people see this as the best solution? It would be complicated, take up unnecessary space, wreak havoc on both auto and pedestrian traffic and be an ongoing nuisance like the Union was. Why go through all of that trouble when it is avoidable?
Currently I and anyone else in the Animal Science field have had to deal with difficulty scheduling classes over in the Wise Center. This is because if we only have 10 or 15 minutes to get over to the veterinary school in between classes, we will be late.
We cannot park anywhere near the Drill Field, and so must race to the nearest shuttle stop, which may take five minutes, plus wait for the Wise shuttle, which only makes rounds every fifteen minutes at its fastest (which is not very often). That means on Monday, Wednesday and Friday we are at least 10 minutes late. That’s not too bad, if your instructor is OK with it, but what about on quiz or test days? You cannot be late for those.
There is no extra parking pass you can obtain to let you park outside your zone or any other options, except to walk or bike (believe me, I tried). Should students such as this be penalized for wanting to take classes in the Wise Center, which are only offered at one time? I do not think it is fair to those of us who are looking forward to classes over there.
“It’s only an elective,” some people have told me. Yes, but it is the only class I am genuinely excited about. I would hate to not be able to go just because the shuttle system is appalling.
And now, many of my classes there are required. What if either the class before or after was also required and on campus? Then what would I do? This school has not made careful planning for these kinds of circumstances. If we are paying to go to school here, should the school not be set up to meet our needs? One shuttle to the forestry department and the vet school is simply unacceptable when there are five or more that go to Sorority/Fraternity Row, which is much closer.
I have been to several college campuses with bus systems, all of which are more efficient than ours. Many even take students to the campus apartments so they do not have to drive to class.
Even Sydney, Australia, which has close to 4.5 million people, manages to have decent bus schedules and trains for commuters. I know because I rode the bus to work every day from the suburb I lived in that was 30 minutes away from downtown.
Why has MSU overlooked our shuttles, making them essentially worthless to students? I propose that the university re-evaluate the parking dilemma and at least consider revamping the shuttle system rather than wasting time and money on more parking spots.
Hannah Kaase is a senior majoring in animal and dairy science. She can be contacted at[email protected].