Forming an Opportunity

Forming and Opportunity

            Gainesville is one of the select college towns that has numerous amounts of students that own a scooter, vehicle and/or both. However, finding a parking spot to meet the amount of transportations options on campus is definitely an issue among the population that drives/scoots to school. While I know a huge part of this lack of parking spots is due to space available on campus, I will focus my ideas on the improvement of scooter parking, for it is a smaller vehicle and will require less space than the average car. I am a part of the group of students that has a scooter and struggles to find a space on campus. The most popular spaces revolve around Plaza of the Americas and Turlington due to the fact that most classes circle around that area. Whether it be getting up hours before a class to find a spot, waiting what feels like a century for someone to move, or better yet having to move numerous scooters to fit yours in between, there really is no better option. Not to mention your scooter gets all types of bumps and bruises from others trying to shove their scooter into such a small place, but also if you are even a little bit over the line you get a parking citation. 

            There is no win-win situation when it comes to driving your scooter to class, it is convenient but once you pay for a semester or yearly parking permit, you’d think there would be more space available or less strict parking rules. This need has gotten out of hand overtime for as the school grew, only a certain number of spaces were open, let alone for scooter’s which were introduced years later. It is not there isn’t space to create more, for all you need is a thin strip of land to create parking space, however it’s something that takes strategy. The university has spots that seem convenient, but opening more areas to park in already existing high traffic locations would be logical. I would say that about 65% of students with a scooter struggle to find a spot and if they’ve finally found one,at least 50% have come to find a yellow slip of paper in their storage compartment that charges them for not being perfectly within the lines. 

            If new lots were to be opened anyone with a scooter/motorcycle type vehicle would be the target audience. New lots opened by the university would be ideal, and if a more expensive pass were to be necessary, maybe considered ‘premium parking’ then so be it. If not opening up a business of scooter parking circling around UF’s campus would be a move, and making permits/temporary passes cheaper. The whole idea is that there is more spaces available. 

            In order to see if this was an issue I was not only experiencing I interviewed three students that drive scooters as well. All of them found at a different lots, one next to Library West, one on Inner road and one behind the Chemical Engineering building (Where there is nowhere near as much foot traffic as Plaza of the Americas, but was just as full as any other scooter lot). The common thread between all three students was that parking is such a hassle and it in turn leaves you with nothing but negatives; a parking citation, broken pieces on your scooter/motorcycle or running late to class. Even when these students leave for class at a reasonable time a majority of their parking scenarios revolve around waiting 10-15 minutes for a new spot to become open, let alone with enough space to actually fit. 

            This just reinforced my belief of more parking for scooters/motorcycle like vehicles to become available. This original claim is still viable if the space on campus is used to the best of its potential. I believe the university should take this into account, for they are already losing business to other areas to park around campus because it is cheaper and will guarantee a spot. These areas are not as close to campus but students are willing to walk, this in turn creates competition and will eventually result in lots being built closer to campus, once the need is seen.