The unmet need comes from the lack of enough parking, and the rules regarding what decals students can purchase based on their living situations. For example, I don’t even buy a UF decal for my car because the only decal I am eligible for as an off-campus student is designed to park on the outskirts of campus and take the bus. The people who have this need are all UF students, from those who do not have a car or scooter and need to take the bus, to those with a car with no where to park, to those with a scooter that park in extremely crowded scooter lots. Not only UF students, but also UF faculty, as I recall my freshman year Gen-Psych professor complaining about finding parking near her lecture halls, and all the students being shocked that even staff had issues with parking.
I’m sure that this issue has varied over the years, as student body has varied in size since UF’s origins and cars and parking and certainly scooters were not an issue in the early years of UF’s history. However, in the years that my siblings have gone to UF and now myself, I know this has certainly been an issue. Right now, people are walking, biking, or skate boarding to class as one way to meet this need. They are also buying scooters, since scooter parking on campus is available for off campus students while car-parking is not. I’m basically sure that an opportunity to expand UF campus parking exists, it is just a difficult solution to find. The prototypical customer is a UF student, either by building a large garage or parking lot with a new decal, or by having more parking for each decal color therefore encouraging people to buy more decals.
I asked three friends the following questions regarding this.
Lexi Mendes, 3rd year nursing student at UF.
Q. 1. How do you travel on campus?
I mostly use a scooter, but sometimes I drive my car in the evenings and the weekends when parking is lifted.
Q. 2. If you park on campus, describe the parking environment?
When I use my scooter, it often gets scratched and it is very difficult to find parking in the crowded lots, even when the vehicles are the size of a scooter. When I use my car, which I only can certain hours of the day, parking is so limited that you sometimes have to drive around a lot for up to 30 minutes trying to find a spot.
Q. 3. How does the parking environment on campus make you feel? What is your opinion on it?
It makes me angry when I can’t find parking and I am in a rush, because the time it is going to take you to find a spot isn’t something you can predict very well. There is not enough parking for the amount of people who have decals. I think if the university put even a fraction of the money they put into sports into decent parking lots we wouldn’t face this problem.
Q. 4. When and how did you first become aware of the need for additional parking on campus / ability for students to get better decals than the commuter lots?
Freshman year I became aware of this problem when I had to walk to all my classes, or sometimes run if they were back to back periods, or else take a 30 minute bus ride to get my car from the commuter lot as this was the only decal available to me.
Q. 5. How long have you had this need?
All 3 years of attending this school.
Q. 6. How are you currently addressing the need for more parking on campus?
I can’t really do anything to fix the problem, so all I can really do is leave very early before class in case parking is especially bad. As I can’t be late, this means I’m very early to class when I do find a spot quickly. Being early doesn’t seem like a bad thing, but when you have an 8 am every day I would certainly like to avoid being 30 minutes early if I could. I purchased a scooter to make parking easier for me, and it certainly did, but that has problems as well.
Q. 7. How satisfied are you with the way you are addressing this need?
I do not really know how I can help advocate for the need for more parking, and I’m not really satisfied with having to leave early. Many students can not afford to buy a scooter or have to use their student loan money to do so and that does not seem very fair.
Michael Jungels, 3rd year botany student at UF.
Q. 1. How do you travel on campus?
Right now, I get to my classes by driving my car to the park n ride lot, and then waiting for the bus to take me to campus. From there I walk, or longboard/skateboard to get in between my classes before taking the bus back to my car. I also ordered a one-wheel battery powered skateboard that will be here soon which I will then use predominantly.
Q. 2. If you park on campus, describe the parking environment?
I park at the park n ride lot on Bledsoe Drive (by Southwest Rec) and there is always parking there, however that’s because it’s a mile away from my actual classes and I then have to use the bus. This is the only kind of decal available to me.
Q. 3. How does the parking environment on campus make you feel? What is your opinion on it?
The parking situation is certainly not good, but I also understand that it’s problem with a minimal amount of good feasible solutions. Because of this, I try to make the best of what is provided. For students who live on campus and can purchase the red decal, it probably isn’t so bad. Even more so for the on campus students who are upperclassmen, as they are allowed to get an even better red decal which has parking spaces throughout the center of campus.
Q. 4. When and how did you first become aware of the need for additional parking on campus / ability for students to get better decals than the commuter lots?
I am a transfer student at UF, and this fall is my first semester here. Because of this, I was recently introduced to this problem. I knew parking was going to be a tough situation when my sister sent me instructions that were over a page long on how to use the app for the buses and the park n ride lot. Within the first week, the buses started consistently passing me due to being full every morning. This is completely unpredictable, and I feel there needs to be a better solution besides waking up an hour earlier to make the bus and always ending up 20+ minutes early to class or 5 minutes late. No in-betweens.
Q. 5. How long have you had this need?
I have had this problem for 3 whole weeks now since transferring.
Q. 6. How are you currently addressing the need for more parking on campus?
I am not really addressing it, just bypassing the bus situation and parking problem with the one-wheel skateboard I ordered. It is quick, efficient, has an 8 mile battery life, and I will at least enjoy my ride from the same far commuter lot.
Q. 7. How satisfied are you with the way you are addressing this need?
Michael Jungels, 3rd year botany student at UF.
Q. 1. How do you travel on campus?
Right now, I get to my classes by driving my car to the park n ride lot, and then waiting for the bus to take me to campus. From there I walk, or longboard/skateboard to get in between my classes before taking the bus back to my car. I also ordered a one-wheel battery powered skateboard that will be here soon which I will then use predominantly.
Q. 2. If you park on campus, describe the parking environment?
I park at the park n ride lot on Bledsoe Drive (by Southwest Rec) and there is always parking there, however that’s because it’s a mile away from my actual classes and I then have to use the bus. This is the only kind of decal available to me.
Q. 3. How does the parking environment on campus make you feel? What is your opinion on it?
The parking situation is certainly not good, but I also understand that it’s problem with a minimal amount of good feasible solutions. Because of this, I try to make the best of what is provided. For students who live on campus and can purchase the red decal, it probably isn’t so bad. Even more so for the on campus students who are upperclassmen, as they are allowed to get an even better red decal which has parking spaces throughout the center of campus.
Q. 4. When and how did you first become aware of the need for additional parking on campus / ability for students to get better decals than the commuter lots?
I am a transfer student at UF, and this fall is my first semester here. Because of this, I was recently introduced to this problem. I knew parking was going to be a tough situation when my sister sent me instructions that were over a page long on how to use the app for the buses and the park n ride lot. Within the first week, the buses started consistently passing me due to being full every morning. This is completely unpredictable, and I feel there needs to be a better solution besides waking up an hour earlier to make the bus and always ending up 20+ minutes early to class or 5 minutes late. No in-betweens.
Q. 5. How long have you had this need?
I have had this problem for 3 whole weeks now since transferring.
Q. 6. How are you currently addressing the need for more parking on campus?
I am not really addressing it, just bypassing the bus situation and parking problem with the one-wheel skateboard I ordered. It is quick, efficient, has an 8 mile battery life, and I will at least enjoy my ride from the same far commuter lot.
Q. 7. How satisfied are you with the way you are addressing this need?
I am very satisfied with the prospect of the one-wheel and think it will make my mornings a lot smoother not having to worry about parking.
Ryan Jungels, recent UF graduate
Ryan Jungels, recent UF graduate
Q. 1. How do you travel on campus?
During my undergraduate experience at UF, I traversed campus either by foot or by taking the bus. I did not invest in a scooter, as I already owned a car and felt that it was unnecessary to have multiple motor vehicles to be responsible for and thus have to buy decals for. Looking back on my time at UF, investing in a bicycle would have likely been beneficial.
Q. 7. How satisfied are you with the way you are addressing this need?
I think that my three interviews confirmed that there is a problem with parking on campus. Everyone agreed that there are limited parking spaces, and for those with a scooter like me, the parking lots are too crowded and can damage your scooter. I found it interesting that everyone has different ways of handling their parking problems. For example, the answers ranged from walking, to bicycling, to buying a scooter, to buying a battery powered skateboard. Some of those are getting rather creative. This causes me to slightly doubt the aforementioned opportunity, because it seems like although the parking situation is stressful, everyone figures out a way to bypass it that works the best for them. The opportunity is certainly still there, because if there was certain parking near classes then a lot of people would abandon their bicycles and their skateboards. I do not believe the opportunity is more accurate simply because like I said, people figure out their own solutions. I believe that entrepreneurs should almost completely adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback. For example, if Ronnie offered 100 people his chicken wings before he opened his restaurant and all of them said they taste bad, Ronnie would likely change his recipe or change his idea. An entrepreneur can not see any profit if their expected patrons are not interested in their product or service.
During my undergraduate experience at UF, I traversed campus either by foot or by taking the bus. I did not invest in a scooter, as I already owned a car and felt that it was unnecessary to have multiple motor vehicles to be responsible for and thus have to buy decals for. Looking back on my time at UF, investing in a bicycle would have likely been beneficial.
Q. 2. If you park on campus, describe the parking environment?
Having lived in the dorms my freshman year and off-campus every following year, I experienced the difficulty of parking tied to multiple decals. Parking lot space for on-campus students is limited especially for underclassmen, making it inconvenient to travel by car. There would be bouts of time where I wouldn’t move my car for over a week because I knew there would be no parking spaces when I returned. While the park-and-ride lot is sizable, there remains a limited number of spots during the busiest class periods, and limited bus routes from the lot create an inconvenience.
Having lived in the dorms my freshman year and off-campus every following year, I experienced the difficulty of parking tied to multiple decals. Parking lot space for on-campus students is limited especially for underclassmen, making it inconvenient to travel by car. There would be bouts of time where I wouldn’t move my car for over a week because I knew there would be no parking spaces when I returned. While the park-and-ride lot is sizable, there remains a limited number of spots during the busiest class periods, and limited bus routes from the lot create an inconvenience.
Q. 3. How does the parking environment on campus make you feel? What is your opinion on it?
I feel that the parking environment on campus is quite stressful and could be tremendously improved with the addition of large parking garages open to both on-campus and off-campus students. From a first-hand perspective, limited parking space can hinder students’ timeliness; I feel UF could improve the overall well-being of their students by establishing more options for parking on campus.
Q. 4. When and how did you first become aware of the need for additional parking on campus / ability for students to get better decals than the commuter lots?
I first became aware of the necessity for additional parking and better decals during my first week of undergrad, in which the Springs Complex residential parking lots were entirely full and I had to park at the end of the fraternity parking lot. While I did find a spot, having to walk 5-10 minutes to my dorm room at night left much to be desired regarding parking. Additionally, the Red decals do not provide any parking close to classes and are almost exclusively used for residential parking; this means that students are forced to find an alternative method of getting to classes.
I first became aware of the necessity for additional parking and better decals during my first week of undergrad, in which the Springs Complex residential parking lots were entirely full and I had to park at the end of the fraternity parking lot. While I did find a spot, having to walk 5-10 minutes to my dorm room at night left much to be desired regarding parking. Additionally, the Red decals do not provide any parking close to classes and are almost exclusively used for residential parking; this means that students are forced to find an alternative method of getting to classes.
Q. 5. How long have you had this need?
The need for additional, open parking in the center of campus has been present since my first day at UF. Being able to park right next to my classes would have taken out all the extraneous steps currently required to arrive at classes in a timely manner – finding parking in undersized lots as well as arriving to the bus stop early to ensure no routes are missed. Even still, students are sometimes at the mercy of availability, as some buses that pass by park-and-ride are filled with off-campus students.
The need for additional, open parking in the center of campus has been present since my first day at UF. Being able to park right next to my classes would have taken out all the extraneous steps currently required to arrive at classes in a timely manner – finding parking in undersized lots as well as arriving to the bus stop early to ensure no routes are missed. Even still, students are sometimes at the mercy of availability, as some buses that pass by park-and-ride are filled with off-campus students.
Q. 6. How are you currently addressing the need for more parking on campus?
To minimize the difficulty associated with limited parking, I enrolled in early class periods. This allowed me to arrive at campus before parking lots were filled and before many students began classes. While this remedied many parking inconveniences for me, this is not an option for students that cannot find availability in early or late class periods.
To minimize the difficulty associated with limited parking, I enrolled in early class periods. This allowed me to arrive at campus before parking lots were filled and before many students began classes. While this remedied many parking inconveniences for me, this is not an option for students that cannot find availability in early or late class periods.
Enrolling in early classes had many benefits as well as many drawbacks. Like many other college students, I was absolutely fine with having classes later in the day, as this led to getting more sleep. Having to wake up early to avoid parking conflicts took away my ability to sleep in, though did allow me to finish my daily classes earlier. Ultimately, I am indifferent to the way I approached my parking needs.
Conclusion and Summary
Conclusion and Summary
I think that my three interviews confirmed that there is a problem with parking on campus. Everyone agreed that there are limited parking spaces, and for those with a scooter like me, the parking lots are too crowded and can damage your scooter. I found it interesting that everyone has different ways of handling their parking problems. For example, the answers ranged from walking, to bicycling, to buying a scooter, to buying a battery powered skateboard. Some of those are getting rather creative. This causes me to slightly doubt the aforementioned opportunity, because it seems like although the parking situation is stressful, everyone figures out a way to bypass it that works the best for them. The opportunity is certainly still there, because if there was certain parking near classes then a lot of people would abandon their bicycles and their skateboards. I do not believe the opportunity is more accurate simply because like I said, people figure out their own solutions. I believe that entrepreneurs should almost completely adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback. For example, if Ronnie offered 100 people his chicken wings before he opened his restaurant and all of them said they taste bad, Ronnie would likely change his recipe or change his idea. An entrepreneur can not see any profit if their expected patrons are not interested in their product or service.
Hi Caroline!
ReplyDeleteI also find this to be an opportunity that exists. I had the same problem freshman year and it is very frustrating. I have also never understood the decal issue here at UF, the different colors and meanings are too confusing. I ended up buying a scooter my sophomore year and it was the best decision I have ever made. Thanks for sharing!
Caroline,
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a parking problem at UF and there definitely is an unmet need for the problem. Because Gainesville houses such a large university with so many students, I feel like the infrastructure of UF should be invested on and solved with the construction of new parking spots around the area. The interviews really give us an inside look of the thoughts of the students around Gainesville.
Hi Caroline,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that parking is a problem here at UF. The bus system is not always reliable for close time windows and I also only qualify for a decal that forces me to park on the outskirts of campus so that wouldn't be very helpful. I also agree with most of the students that we can't really do much to fix the parking problem ourselves and a new parking garage with less restrictions would be appreciated.
There is an opportunity created from the need for parking on campus but I think it would be hard to fix this problem. The space provided by UF is just simply not enough for its large population of students but I believe the solution is to make more parking garages. The busing system is helping students because it takes them to and from parking places, but I do agree there should be more. It is a challenging task to satisfy this need but I believe it can be done!
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a good problem to bring up. This is something that I know affects a lot of my friends. The only thing is I wonder what a true solution would be. There is only so much land and so much space for parking lots that I am not sure what could be done to fix this problem. However, a solution would definitely be helpful for many people.
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