The continuous parking problem

PantherNOW Editorial Board

As our previous parking editorial suggested, any student who has parked on campus at least once is likely enraged by the terrible lack of parking. 

If you stroll through any of the parking lots on campus, you’ll notice that the vacant parking spots are for administrators and staff. The absurdly low number of parking spots is for students.

It’s not difficult to think that students are left to compete in a jungle-like environment to get a parking spot. Subsequently, our time is absorbed in finding a good place to park. A time that could be spent in a classroom engrossed in a lecture, studying or engaging with on-campus life.

As we search for the answer, it’s easy to blame the administrators in charge of this area. However, assigning more spots to administrators than students reflects a strategy to ensure a parking spot for everyone

For instance, in Parking Garage 5, an astute observer will notice the remnants of old markings that formerly indicated spots for students. 

It’s because some FIU students have classes strictly online. They don’t need to come to campus if it isn’t necessary. With those students absent, empty parking spots could serve better use for administrators and faculty instead. 

As we ponder a solution, we may argue in favor of more parking garages. But even we recognize that building more parking isn’t as feasible as it sounds.

It would need to follow sound environmental guidelines. The public’s consciousness is heavy with the worsening climate, so we shouldn’t ignore these guidelines.

This isn’t to silence our anger regarding this issue. After all, the school provides an essential service as part of our tuition bundle. 

We’re also aware of the parking tickets that punish the slightest mistakes. One can understandably be upset that these are enforced so passionately, considering that FIU doesn’t have the same energy to accommodate students who constantly struggle to look for parking. It’s unfair.

Especially considering that, with every student paying for parking, at any given point you’re paying for a space that doesn’t exist because there’s not enough space to accommodate every student.

We encourage the student body to act against the lack of parking on campus. It’s the only way we prevent this issue from fading into obscurity. 

As we prepare to take action, it’s important to know that this issue goes beyond the Student Government Association. 

We’ll leave it at this: If we’re expected to have “Panther Pride,” then ensure that the Panthers who commute to campus have a place to park.