TIGERTV ONLINE REPORTER

UCFY Student Government Senator David Jones has set up a website for students to voice their parking and traffic complaints and has taken initiative to try to alleviate those problems.

The website, www.universityparkingandtraffic.tk , serves as a forum for students to voice problems they’ve had with parking from a shortage of parking, to still not having their passes, to being wrongly ticketed. Jones also posts his progress of taking care of the student complaints.

Jones created the site after one night when he was looking for a parking spot at his on-campus residence and couldn’t find one within a two mile radius. After repeatedly searching the parking lots around his residence he was advised to park illegally and move his car in the morning.

“Everyone living on campus is paying thousands of dollars for the convenience of being close to campus,” Jones said. “Students shouldn’t have to park a mile away from their residence.”

Jones then spoke with students and formulated an assessment of what they wanted and needed. He studied a 150 page study on campus development and parking and transportation and created questions to ask the administration.

In a meeting with Director of Parking, Traffic and Transportation Gary Graham, Jones asked questions and tried to mutually come up with solutions to the parking problems.

Parking and transportation is an auxiliary service, meaning it doesn’t get funds from the University. Its funding comes from parking passes, tickets and towings. The rates go up every year on these things for budget reasons.

LSU has expanded laterally and parking garages are the next step in solving the parking problems, but Jones said a lack of funds is delaying them.

“Bonds and loans to build parking garages aren’t affordable because of the economy,” Jones said.

But Graham disagrees.

“Money is not the issue, it’s having the space to build it.” Graham said. “On the east side of campus we have used everything we can logically use without negatively impacting the aesthetics, meaning cutting down the trees.”

Graham also said they have compared with peer institutions to see if they were out of line with fees, but did not compare to set the rates.

“We determine from the consultant’s report what we wanted for LSU and what it would cost and determined the fees needed to accomplish this,” Graham said.

Parking and transportation added 12 parking spaces this summer off of South Campus with a slight change. They are also looking to add up to 20 more where the old electric substation is.

“But until the garage can be built and add hundreds of spots we are only reducing the problem slightly,” Graham said. “But 30 less problems are still 30 happier students than we wouldn’t otherwise have.”

Students are still struggling with parking problems including parking far from class and not being able to keep a spot on game days.

“I don’t want to go anywhere on game days because I’ll never get my spot back,” art sophomore Elizabeth Carmena said.

“There’s parking but it’s always so far away from class unless you come really early,” Brittany Vincent, a theater sophomore said.

Graham said convenience is the real problem.

“We have enough parking,” Graham said. “We just don’t have enough convenient parking.”

But parking is not the only problem. Jones said students have emailed him with complaints of being ticketed for parking in front of the Union after 4:30 p.m. Ticketing for those spots doesn’t start until 10 p.m.

“I’m gonna fight this, even though it is bigger than me,” Jones said. “I’m relying on student input and people are starting to get on the bandwagon.”

Jones also said that while they couldn’t come to a student option on a different way to do things, he thinks the meeting still made progress.

“I’m at least able to tell my peers what’s going on,” Jones said.

Jones said in the meantime students should continue to give their input and use resources like the bus system and campus transit. Doing so will ease parking and traffic problems while putting student pressure on the University.

“When students have maxed out these services they will have to do something,” Jones said. “It will present a sense of urgency.”

Jones wants to show LSU students that there’s nothing too big for them to accomplish. With a collective effort from students and the help of the administration the problems can be solved.

“I think we’ll end up changing a system that’s been bad for decades,” Jones said. “The student voice can do this.”