Parking on campus has been an ongoing issue, which has been aggravated by abundant snowfall since school resumed in January.
Students say they continue to be frustrated by DU’s parking scarcity and uneven application of penalties. One main concern among students is the lack of available parking. Students are often forced to park illegally because there are no spots available. One student interviewed spoke of how difficult it was to find a parking spot each day.
“I often have to drive around to find a spot, and now, with snow, the situation is even worse,” said junior Dusty Atkinson. “Most of the time I have to park where I am not supposed to and risk getting a ticket in order to get to class on time.”
Student drivers repeatedly criticize the lack of adequate parking spaces for students. Many students say DU should not over issue parking permits for lots on campus.
Junior Lauren Graham recalled her parking permit experience. Graham said she had already purchased a restricted parking permit in order to park under the dorm she was living in when she was informed, just a few weeks prior to the start of school, that the parking office had oversold restricted permits.
“I was not allowed to park in the lot I bought the permit for because it was already full,” Graham said. “It was an inconvenience to park in a farther lot after I had been allowed to purchase a restricted pass for the sheer purpose of parking in my dorm’s lot.”
While some students feel that they are being targeted for parking tickets, others feel that the lack of action taken toward cars parked illegally is the main problem. This involves regulating parking spots with specific time restrictions, meters and designations.
Another student expressed her frustration at how difficult it was for handicapped students to find parking. “I am handicapped, so when I went to find parking in front of a dorm, I was shocked to see that there was nowhere for me to park,” said junior Raina Severinghaus. “Not only were the short-term spots taken by people who had exceeded the time, but also the handicapped spots were taken by cars that were not marked handicapped.”
Other than the lack of parking spaces and ticketing of cars, the process of dealing with a ticket one has received is also at issue with many students who own cars. A large number of students feel paying a ticket is very inconvenient and that the process is inefficient. In order to appeal tickets, students must now go through the process online.
“I don’t like the idea of not being able to speak to a real person about my tickets,” said Adam Tessier, a junior.
The degree to which tickets are systematically issued has also come up in the debate over parking. Students are unsure of where and when they can park because of the sporadic nature in which they are given tickets. Students argue that they are able to park illegally and not be ticketed sometimes but other times they receive multiple tickets. This confusion about parking was cited as one student gave an account of his parking experience.
“The way in which they give out tickets just doesn’t make sense,” said Atkinson. “I have been parked places I wasn’t supposed to be for days and not received any tickets, while other times it has literally been five minutes and I was given a ticket.”
While the students hope for better conditions soon, a lack of optimism about the parking situation at DU continues.
“I think I’m just going to start walking everywhere around campus,” said Atkinson. “It might be cold, but at least I won’t have to pay.”
