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Editorial: Campus Parking Is Better Than Realized

There’s a lot to be said for the state of USD’s parking. 

One could criticize the size of the parking stalls or the ticketers dispatched in full force, but compared to other universities, USD’s parking is actually in pretty good shape as it has affordable tickets and undergoes regular asphalt maintenance with the help of an asphalt paving company. If you’re also in need of Roanoke driveway paving services to redo your driveway, you may contact companies like Wells Paving Services. Explore this website, https://www.brothersconstructionwi.com/our-services/, and learn more about the concrete services of an expert.

A parking lot striping is also done as soon as the paint fades. Professional car park maintenance services can also help with the upkeep of private and commercial parking structures.

Example 1: Take the University of Iowa. Freshmen are encouraged not to bring a vehicle, and if they choose to do so, they are limited to one specific parking lot at the price of around $279/semester, or $558/year. The Hawkeye’s equivalent for an “A” parking pass is only $121/semester, but one must park over 2 miles away and take a shuttle bus to campus. 

Example 2: The University of Nebraska-Lincoln issues their parking fees monthly. They range from $23-to-$88 dollars per month depending on the lot. For an academic year of ten months, the price runs between $230 and $880. Some of their options include paying for a specific parking stall. 

Example 3: South Dakota State University charges their on-campus staff a different rate than they do their students. To reserve a permit for 12 months, it would cost a staff member $365 for a year. The nine month student parking pass costs students 161, while a staff pass costs $297. 

Parking at USD acts as the great equalizer. Undergraduate students, graduate students, full-ride scholars and tenured professors all pay $170. 

While the cost is still more than insignificant, being able to park on campus as a commuter and walk almost anywhere in 10 or 15 minutes is not the norm for most university campuses. 

USD students are lucky to have an accessible campus that isn’t spread across half a city. With the addition of the new parking lot across from the Health Sciences Building, the only reason one wouldn’t be able to find close parking is by arriving too close to class time.

USD also offers more than one type of parking pass. They offer it as “A”, “B”, “L” and “S” which all can park in various locations located on campus. “A” parking allows you to park in 14 locations on campus (not including the all permit zones). As for “B” passes, those are for students living in dorms and many first year students buy this pass. “L” only has one zone for the Lambda Chi fraternity.

Students at USD have all come to know the incessant barrage of parking tickets for a wide range of reasons. This is, however, a universal occurrence and not unique to USD. As much as the parking tickets are unpleasant, they can usually be avoided with a somewhat competent parking job. 

All things considered, parking could be way worse. Just another reason to Go Yotes!