Testing the Hypothesis

Testing the Hypothesis

WHO: Parking At UF

WHAT: UF does not provide enough parking so students have trouble on daily basis to find somewhere to park

WHY: Some say there is not enough space on campus however campus needs to be used to its greatest potential

TESTING THE WHO: There are a handful of faculty and students who encounter the issue of a lack of parking on campus.

TESTING THE WHAT: Is all parking an issue or just a certain type of parking, such as scooter vs. vehicle parking.

TESTING THE WHY: Those that suffer from this issue own any type of motor vehicle that is acceptable to park on campus. There is not enough space for the number of vehicles on the road. Ratio of scooter/cars to spots is unparalleled.

INTERVIEWS

1.     The first person I conducted an interview with was a student who parks in the scooter lot that has the most traffic. This location is located near Library West and consists of one lane extending the length of the library and another smaller lot that has parking both ways adjacent to the other. This student claims she must arrive to this lot hours earlier if she wants to find an okay spot, otherwise she must hit the free for all that occurs right when classes get out. She claims there are people sitting and waiting on their scooters for lengths at a time to find a spot that doesn’t even fit their vehicle. Which turns into either rearranging scooter’s to squeeze yours in or getting a ticket for being “over the line” when most often than not your wheel is just behind it. Overall more space needs to be provided.

2.     The second person I interviewed has a car up in Gainesville and since parking for apartments or overpriced and very limited she bought a decal to park “on campus”. On campus being emphasized due to the fact that the lot provided for commuters is nowhere near a majority of the student body’s classes. He claims that it is the most inconvenient lot and when he needs use of his car, which is more often than not due to it being his only form of transportation, he must walk 20-30 minutes to retrieve it. If he is in a rush then he must pay another source to get him to his vehicle. He cannot park in another location for he is not faculty and he does not live on campus, but for many that is the case.

3.     The third interview I conducted was a worker who is employed under the Parking Services for UF. The overall goal was to give faculty and students parking permits either for the semester or the year under different prices. He claims that all the owner of a vehicle needs is license, registration, plate ID and where they live in Gainesville (this determines where they can park if they own a car). There seemed to be no limit as to how many passes they can sell, the rules revolved more around the fact of where a vehicle can be parked rather than how many they have sold. This then shows that in reality parking is first come first served for what Is available on campus, which in turns affects how early people must go to find a spot. The claims and wishes in this interview revolved around the idea that there must be number regulation on how many passed are sold or more parking created.

4.     The fourth person I interviewed parked in a different scooter parking that isn’t as busy as the Library West location but still seems to be just as scooter congested. This location is behind the Chemical Engineering building and has much less foot and vehicle traffic then the average location on campus. Yet, once you arrive to the lot there is nowhere to park and yet again the rearranging comes into play to ‘fit’ your scooter into a location that will end up ruining your investment. Scooters aren’t cheap and my interviewee claims that from the moment she bought it to a couple of months into parking at UF, pieces have been broken off, paints been scratched and ultimately her scooter has depreciated if she ever wants to sell. Therefore, she believes the more parking available the less damaged her property will be.

5.     My last interview consisted of a faculty member who is still a graduate student but teaches for her dissertation. She has a parking permit for her car and although her classes begin about 8-9 in the morning she still finds trouble finding a car parking. She claims that this is due to the fact that numerous cars stay in the same spot overnight and at times for weeks at a time. As long as they have a permit there is no rules on how long you can stay in one place. This then leads to issues of what floor you are parking on for most floors are split up by multiple permits (Red 1/Red 3), and many don’t know the exact cut off of where there permit ends. There needs to be more regulation on how long you can park or where a parking permit ends, or to fix the entirety of the issue creating more parking.

CONCLUSION

            After conducting the interviews I came to the conclusion that parking is a huge issue but there are other factors involved into what makes the process run smoothly. Certain factors of the system seem to be what hinder the little available parking UF has and since they are too many to regulate, making more parking with the space we have is the best bet. This assignment solidified the need for parking and that everyone with a vehicle at one point or another has experienced issues with the system. Taking advantage of certain spaces on campus would create more parking, the whole idea is to take advantage of space that Is empty or isn’t being facilitated by something else, and overall create a happier environment.