Huanyu Zhang
Professor Bryan
Smith
English 107
11 November 2015
Parking issues
As the increasing number of students, there are more
and more cars in ASU. The consequent issue is that there are not enough parking
spaces in ASU. This issue is not only occurring in ASU but also occurring in
other universities. For 2013, Boise State had 2200 beds, and 996 parking
permits were sold. ("Q&A with Nicole Nimmons, Director of
Transportation and Parking Services at Boise State University." The
Idaho Business Review(2014) ProQuest. 10 November 2015.) It means that it
is hard for students to find a parking space in the campus. The following
situation can be met in the campus. When a person drives his or her car in
campus, it is hard to find a parking space to park. If people have a class
later, the most possibility is that they will be late since they spend too much
time on searching a parking space. Many my friends who have cars talk about
parking issues in ASU with me.
The first potential cause is there are not enough
parking spaces in the campus. High demand and low supply will cause the lack of
parking spaces. The problem is a matter of supply and demand: too many cars and
not enough spaces.( Steve Giegerich The Associated Press, Pg. P10A September
18, 2003) The second potential cause is low price of parking or low cost of
driving to school. When gas prices soared, we saw a substantial decrease in the
use of cars on campus. We had more available parking spaces.( "Q&A with
Nicole Nimmons, Director of Transportation and Parking Services at Boise State
University." The Idaho Business Review(2014) ProQuest. 10
November 2015.) It means that there will be more available parking spots, if
the cost of driving to school, the price of gas, is increasing.
The first tentative solution is that building a new
multileveled parking garage. It seems that can solve, at least, can alleviate
parking issue in ASU. There are more available parking spaces for students and
staff in ASU if build a new multileveled parking garage.
The second tentative solution is that increasing the
price of parking. If the price of parking is increasing, more people might
walk, bicycle or take public transportation instead of driving. Everybody wants
to park up front for free. If you don't have that resource, you're apt to ask
somebody else for a ride, or use alternative transportation. （"Q&A with Nicole Nimmons, Director of Transportation and
Parking Services at Boise State University." The Idaho Business
Review(2014) ProQuest. 10 November 2015）
The third tentative solution is that ASU can
encourage students or staff to live near campus or close to transit lines.
Table 4 and Table 5 show that roughly 36% live within a walkable or bikeable
distance and/or in areas with transit accessible services (48%) – put simply
many affiliates not only live within close proximity to campus, they live close
to transit lines. This shows how a campus could have opportunity reduce trips
for those who choose another mode. (William Riggs, 9 July 2014)
From my perspective, I prefer the second and the
third solutions. I think these two solutions are justified since they are fair
to everyone. However, there might be some potential problems that some people
might think the price of parking is a little high. They may use alternative
transportation instead of driving. On the other hand, this might not be a
problem.
References
"Q&A with Nicole Nimmons,
Director of Transportation and Parking Services at Boise State
University." The Idaho Business Review(2014) ProQuest. 10 November 2015.
Steve Giegerich The Associated Press, Pg. P10A September 18, 2003
