USD needs more parking spaces

Recently I received my first parking ticket from the University of South Dakota — which was more than $30. Now, I admit, I was parked in a visitor’s parking lot. However, I needed to be in that building for no more than 20 minutes to return heavy equipment to the university, after which I’d be out of their hair.

But that didn’t seem to matter to the parking patrol.

Normally I wouldn’t risk the ticket, but it was a timely matter and there was only one problem — the two 15 minute parking spots were full. The cars that were parked there had been there for longer than I was, I might add.

Let me explain further. In the particular parking lot I was in there are about 20 parking spots, excluding the 15 minute and the handicap spots.

For a class, I had a lot of video equipment I needed to return for other people to use, and the only way to transport it was by car. Seeing as I was only going there to return said university equipment, I justified bending the rules.

But it was like someone was there waiting to print me a ticket.

All the while, I noticed the two 15 minute parking spots were taken as I was hauling equipment. Like most students, it bugs me when other students abuse the rules, but I realized there was more to it than that.

They had to park there because there were no other free parking spots, unless they wanted to get a ticket like me.

I took a little drive later that day to see other parking lots and what kind of variety spots they have. Last year when I was a resident in Coyote Village there were at least three 15 minute parking spots. Now there are none.

In McFadden, there are zero. Over by the Arts & Sciences building there are no visitor parking spots.

There need to be more. Believe it or not, there are honest people out there who really do just need a parking spot for 15 minutes. The parking lot at the Al Neuharth Media Center — the building I’m in almost every night for meetings or clubs or dropping something off — doesn’t allow students to park there even after 5 p.m. like most parking lots on campus.

This promotes a problem, especially in the winter months as it is cold and gets darker faster. Take my current example — if I didn’t use my car to transport all the equipment, I would then have to carry all of it from one destination to the other. It’s no secret the temperature has decreased in the last week, and I would put my equipment in danger of breaking.

Another thing I noticed on campus is the increase of service vehicles spots. I assume these spots are meant for maintenance crews or campus police in a non-emergency situation.

I understand the need for these in cases of emergency, but I can’t think of the last time I’ve seen a cop car parked there when they usually park near a door. Moreover, often times maintenance crew tend to block the parking lot lanes with their giant trucks, and due to the already tight spacing, at least five spots are blocked off because there isn’t enough room for them to par.

The university could implement more parking spots to convenience students who need to be somewhere for a short amount of time. Another solution would be to make all the parking lots on campus have the same parking pass, or set up a first-come, first-serve rule.

We, as students, are constantly complaining about the parking and it is clear there will be no additional parking lots made, so why not try to compromise.