Down with the (parking registration) system
ROBERT MACEACHERN, STAFF
The new parking pass registration system was supposed to cure the major ailment of the prior system, which usually involved dialing the registration phone number and continuously pressing the redial button on the telephone until the line finally cleared. Instead of solving the problem, it was just switched from one communication device (the telephone) to another (the computer). The software failed in such a spectacular fashion that Parking and Shuttle Services did not have confidence to try using it again, and instead developed from scratch their own registration form that users were actually able to log in to and use. The confusion surrounding the entire situation was the cause of many headaches, for both students and university staff involved with the registration administration.
Parking at the Fort Garry campus has always been a touchy subject for students. The very thought of making the journey to class from the U lot during a January snowstorm is enough to send shivers down the spine. And for those unfortunate souls who were a minute too slow with their Internet browsers’ refresh button, they will have the opportunity to park in the infamous and recently renamed “double-toonie” lot, which currently lacks electrical plugs for block heaters.
The entire parking system is very rigid and inflexible. Each successful parking applicant will end up with a single designated lot, which they can park in during the restricted hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. This is difficult for students who may only require a parking pass for a fraction of that time, say from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. if they are only registered in morning classes, since they are forced to pay full price to guarantee a parking spot for the entire day. Meanwhile, the poor fellow in the U lot who shows up for class at 1 p.m. is wondering why he can’t park in one of the closer lots that has open spaces. Allowing the option of purchasing morning, afternoon or entire day passes would ease the demand for the more desirable lots.
Passes could be broken down not only by time, but also by the day of the week. The majority of students enrolled in the faculty of management do not have classes on Fridays, so it makes no sense that they should be forced to purchase a pass that reserves a spot for them on a day when they will not even be on campus. The same is true for students who arrange their schedules for no classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
At first glance these changes appear to be overly complicated, but this is really not the case. Parking and Shuttle Services already makes use of many automated parking machines for casual parking, and automated technologies along those same lines could be used to handle the passes throughout the school year. Instead of being issued plastic parking passes, students could be given parking transponders which would allow or deny access at automated parking gates which could be installed in each student lot. Each transponder could then be programmed with detailed information for each student, such as specific days or times they would have access to the lots, depending on what options the student registered for.
Not only would a more flexible and automated system make more efficient use of the limited number of spaces available, but it would also substantially reduce the need for parking officers. If gates were used to keep unauthorized vehicles out of the student lots, there would be no need to pay people to monitor them.
The parking situation on campus is a difficult one, but it is one that must be addressed. It is time for some fresh ideas on how to manage and develop the parking facilities on campus to ensure that every student commuter has fairly-priced and accessible parking. Hopefully the frustration of all those involved in this summer’s difficult parking registration will drive a push for change, because students have been getting the short end of the stick for far too long.
