Alternatives to College Parking Lots

Indiana State University has a problem worth naming and most importantly, fixing! Students from all over Indiana travel to Terre Haute each day to attend class. Other students just drive locally from their house or apartment nearby. Some students have extra curricular activities or jobs that involve traveling by car to one place or another. What do all these people have in common do you ask? The answer is a major shortage of parking spots available in the vicinity of their classes. This problem has been addressed continuously every year and still the problem remains. I will list three ways I believe this problem should be handled and which of those three ways I feel best accommodates the majority of students, faculty, and regulation.
The first solution I would like to bring to attention is the differences between staff and student parking. I believe that staff parking lots should be considered student parking at all times. The students who pay 80 dollars for a parking pass and who end up parking in Long John Silver’s or Hardee’s(my personal favorite parking spot off campus) is just wrong. This is Terre Haute, Indiana, not New York City. The professors who drive to work everyday and wake up at ab

The next solution I feel could greatly contribute to this problem is assigned parking. Here is how this would work excluding some of the fine details. In the beginning of the semester, students who need a parking spot for the upcoming semester would apply for a parking permit. The first who come to sign up would get first choice on section and proximity. All the parking lots would be color coated and sectioned off so it would be easy to determine where you are allowed to park. If some people had special reasons to need a closer parking spot, there would be a form to fill out describing why you would need one closer. As a pilot, I know I would want to get there as fast as possible because I make a trip to the airport daily. This is a very objective way to pass out parking permits. If you care about parking, you will get in line as soon as possible. Those students who sign up later will either have to trade parking tags with other people if those people desire to trade or put up with the further spot for the rest of that semester until new parking permits were issued. There are more student drivers than there are spots so there would be a number of spots in the back which would be for all student drivers with some sort of permit but no special priority spot. If the students seem to be very persistent to get the closer spots, increased cost could be a way to maximize profit for the school while giving those students the better parking spot.

The third solu