Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Lack of parking leaves students in a jam

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Ethan Pham, The Paisano

A change.org petition titled “UTSA President Romo: Create More Student Parking Lots at UTSA”, created by user ‘S Brown’, has become the impromptu voice of frustrated UTSA students unable to find parking on campus.

The petition, at this publication time, has 115 signatures out of its 200 signature goal. Upon reaching 200 signatures, the petition will be delivered to President Romo.

The majority of petition signers are UTSA students who have expressed their concerns with UTSA’s parking on the platform

“The current parking situation is abysmal for both students and faculty; [anyone] having to pay without guarantee of a spot is just unacceptable,” Jonathan Hoskins commented. “The university has grown, and the parking spaces should reflect that growth.”

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UTSA’s website states there are currently 28,787 students enrolled at the university and 1,383 faculty members. With such a large population, the task of finding available parking can be a challenge. Angela Monita, a senior communications major said “UTSA parking is not only ridiculously over crowded, but also very expensive. The bottom line is, there isn’t enough spaces to accommodate the campuses increased enrollment. You’d think paying over 100 dollars a semester would guarantee you a parking spot when necessary.”

Students have several parking options facilitated by the Campus Services office.

They can purchase a commuter pass, priced at $155 that lasts for the duration of a calendar year allowing them to park in commuter areas designated by a “C”; there are 4,430 of these spaces.

A garage pass priced at $805 a year that allows students to park in spots in the Bauerle, Tobin and Ximenes garages; there are 2,200 of these spaces.

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Screen Shot 2016-09-06 at 1.02.53 AMCampus Services bases parking accommodations on UTSA’s cyclical enrollment with the expectation that spaces will be used three to four times a day. The numbers in the graphic indicate the number of vehicle spaces in various lots on campus, totalling 8,450.

Danielle Williams, a Campus services representative, asks students to “note that according to enrollment data, Campus Services provides enough parking spaces for peak enrollment times.”

The University of Texas at Arlington, which has comparable population size to UTSA, prices their student and faculty parking spaces for $180 and $210, respectively, with their garage permit prices at $640.

If you would like to sign the petition, go to www.change.org/p/utsa-president-romo-create-more-student-parking-lots-at-utsa

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