Sept. 22, 2014
Megan Lunsford
[email protected]
45 minutes.
I spent 45 minutes driving through parking lots, desperately searching for a single spot of asphalt on which to park my vehicle.
I searched through the parking garage, through lots one, two, three, four AND fi ve, and even went so far as to check for parking all the way down at University Hall.
Even as early as 10 a.m., when I assume most college students are still very much asleep, there was not a single parking spot to be found.
I had given up on being particular about parking in a space close to my class. At this point, all I wanted was to park and hopefully make an appearance for the last 30 minutes of class.
Then the thought occurred to me: “Why did I pay over $100 for a fl at piece of plastic that does not even guarantee me a spot to park?”
And then a second thought: “With a new parking garage and lot near the greenhouse, how is it that this is still a problem?”
And I’m not alone. As I aimlessly wander through the parking lots, hoping for someone to pull out of their spot, there are usually at least four or five other vehicles in that lot alone who are in the same predicament.
More recently, even the free parking lots located at Four Diamonds are being overrun with students seeking a place to desert their vehicles for the day.
UCCS does not simply stop selling parking passes once the number of pass purchases exceeds the number of spaces available. Parking services purposefully oversell parking spaces.
Parking here seems to set us up for fines. Metered parking spaces located near the University Center only take quarters. A single hour of parking runs at $2.
To park in a metered spot for the duration of a single class period, I would need a pocket full of 16 quarters to allow myself at least two hours of worry-free parking. Oh, and there’s also no change machine.
So, here are my options after this dilemma:
1) Arrive late to class by spending 30 minutes to an hour searching for a space.
2) Spend an additional $4 daily on top of my $130 parking pass for two hours of parking.
3) Try my luck at 15-minute parking and hope I don’t get a $30 ticket.
4) Go home and cry over my parking pass receipts.
After giving options one through three a try, I’ve decided to resort to option four.
It’s a more reasonable choice.