It’s that time of year when school is getting into the swing of things—fall is setting in, the campus is buzzing, and parking spots are lacking. During the first few weeks of school, all students with or without parking permits get a “get out of jail free” pass from RPI’s parking department and are allowed to park anywhere without getting a ticket. Obviously the leniency is for a good reason—to allow students time to get parking permits. Ticketing is supposed to begin on September 18. However, parking on this campus has been less than favorable for students beyond these grace periods.
Being a sophomore, I haven’t had a car “legally” on campus until this year. Last year, I had brought my car up for the last week of school so that I could move home alone, and parking was easier last year than it has been this year. I live in Stacwyck apartments, and parking is scarce on school nights, to say the least.
The shuttle stops running at 11 pm and, typically, RPI students work way past that time during the course of the academic year. Since I have a car “legally” at school this year, I’ve driven down to the Union on Tuesday nights to work on The Poly and on other various nights I do work in the Union or on campus. I have found that coming back late from campus is a bad idea if you want to actually find a parking spot. I spent 15 minutes trying to find a parking spot in the Stacwyck lot one late night and found no available space to park. People had even parked in “spots” that are not even designated areas. I was forced to park up on the road behind Stacwyck. Everyone knows Troy is not the best city in which to park on a lonely road and walk down to your dorm late at night.
I know I could have called the escort service offered by Public Safety, but why, when I paid $125, should I have to worry if I’ll have a parking spot? Last year, I had an easier time parking on the streets of Troy than I do getting a spot in the lot I paid for.
The parking system has been reorganized so that it is easier to get a parking permit; you can just fill out the form online. In addition to that, off-campus students are not able to get parking permits for the residential lots on campus to ensure that the residents have room to park their cars. That makes sense, but it’s not happening. So what’s wrong? Has the lot been overbooked? Are nonresidents parking their cars in residential lots?
I really don’t feel much is going to change when ticketing begins because most cars in the lot already have their permits. So how is this problem going to be alleviated or fixed? I think it’s ridiculous that I need to worry whether or not I’m going to have a parking spot and have to park on a lonely road in Troy and walk down to my residence hall. If the parking department can reorganize and update their parking system to make it easier to get permits online, then why can’t something be done to better ensure that the rules are enforced and there is enough room for residents to park in the lots near their homes?
