Parking spaced out
Car spots few or far between classes
September 28, 2005
Amalia Nickel
“There is always, always parking at Fosmark,” said Kim Martens, of Security and Parking Services, in response to allegations of a parking shortage on the Trinity Western University campus. These complaints have arisen from the recent changes made to parking procedures, as the university searches for a solution to “squabbles between commuters and residents,” said Paul Johnston, Director of Campus Services.
“What would happen,” Johnston explains, “is that a resident would leave the resident lot, and a commuter would rush in, perhaps late for class, and park in the nearest spot. The resident would come back, find no spot, and park in the commuter lot. Both students would get tickets, and both would be ticked off.”
The changes come in the form of numbered residential parking spots, ensuring that residents, who pay a higher price for parking passes, have consistent spots to park in. Since there are more resident students than resident spots, the extra students are allowed to park on the commuter side of the lot. Though residents enjoy the newfound ease of parking, this arrangement reduces the number of parking spots near to class for commuters. If other lots are full, they must park in overflow parking at Fosmark, where the annual traffic survey reports at least 70 open spots on any given day.
According to Johnston, “The perception is that there is not enough on-campus parking. That’s not true, there’s not enough convenient parking on campus.”
Many commuters agree with the latter statement.
Mike Riezebos complains, “You either have to be here at 8 am or 4 pm to find a spot.”
Mike Nicanor’s frustration is equally apparent: “I was tempted to whip out my [sibling’s] handicapped tag just to get a spot close to class.”
“The early bird catches the worm,” says commuter Shelagh Hardern of her luck with early morning parking. “After 9:30 it becomes an issue, from what I understand.”
Because of the numbered residential stalls, Johnston says that Parking Services personnel will “be pretty hard nosed about parking…worst case scenario, we’ll tow the car.”
Johnston recalls a female commuter who calmly paid $1100 in parking tickets last year, saying, “I just want to park where I want.” However, not all students can afford the price of convenience. Though Johnston admits the parking is an important issue, especially in a school facing as much growth as TWU, he denies that there is a parking shortage on campus.
“Park in Fosmark and walk,” he suggests. “It erases all problems.”
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