The title of this piece tells you everything you need to know: LSU has enough parking.
At any one time approximately 40,000 people could potentially be on LSU’s campus. Of those 40,000 around, 37,000 are students, around 2,000 are faculty and staff and that leaves some room for visitors.
No, there are not 40,000 parking spaces on campus. Campus has approximately 23,500 spaces, according to LSU Parking and Transporation’s website.
Not every student and staff member utilizes a car to reach campus. Not everyone needs to be on campus everyday. These facts could shave off thousands from the 40,000 person figure. The 40,000 could be too high for a typical day at LSU anyway.
I think why many complain, though, about the need for more campus parking comes from the fact that you can’t park as close as you’d like to where you need to go. Even Parking and Transportation’s website says exactly that. “The problem is that we are so large that we cannot get [the parking spaces] as close as everyone wants them to be,” the website reads.
Central campus where many students go to class, study and eat is closed to through traffic during the day and has limited spaces for faculty and staff. Would you even want a constant flow of traffic going around the Quad buildings?
Parking and Transportation’s solution to the problem of parking comes in several forms. A large parking lot sits just across the street from Patrick F. Taylor Hall. Parking at the UREC is also open to all. These parking lots are about a 15 minute walk from many destinations on campus.
The expansive lot near Tiger Park has a Park & Geaux bus stop for the slightly longer walk to central campus. The Park & Geaux permit is also cheaper than a commuter permit at $50 dollars compared to $182 for the full year.
Tiger Trails buses have routes to many of the popular apartment complexes that LSU students live in. Taking the bus reduces the need for parking spaces on campus, and can save you from driving around a parking lot for 10 minutes looking for a space. Additionally, a number of apartments are within walking distance of campus further reducing the number of people who truly need to drive to campus.
Another solution could be prohibiting freshmen from bringing cars to campus.
These cars often sit in the residential lots for much of the week until students use them to go somewhere on the weekend.
Banning freshmen from having cars on campus would mainly reduce the need for residential parking. Thus, rezoning sections of some parking lots could have a bigger effect as several residential lots are in desirable locations compared to the commuter lots.
LSU Parking and Transportation has a “Parking Availability” page on its website which displays the typical fullness of campus parking lots for each weekday at various times throughout the day. For instance, the South Stadium East lot for commuters is usually 96% full at 11 a.m. However, at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays the Bernie Moore lot is only at 14% capacity. Based on those figures commuters are not fully utilizing the available parking.
On the residential side, the Canal Hall lot on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. is 93% full. However, the Aster Street West lot is only 19% full at the same time. Additionally, the fifth level of the Nicholson Gateway garage doesn’t exceed 5% full at all on Tuesdays, according to the Parking and Transportation chart.
So, LSU does have enough parking. Commuters aren’t fully utilizing the available spots and residents typically let their cars just sit on campus. If LSU wants to appease some complaints, it could rezone some areas to allow for a larger number of commuters. The best solution, though, would be to ditch your car, if possible, and walk or take the bus.
Buses sit in the Park & Geaux lot awaiting passengers on Monday, July 17, 2023, on Skip Bertman Drive in Baton Rouge, La.
