On any given morning in a parking lot on lower campus, the parking problem at the University of Utah is very apparent.
Uninterrupted rows of cars fill the stalls, while less fortunate drivers idle their cars waiting for the next stall to open up. Any promising pedestrian heading to his or her parked vehicle is slowly followed by anxious drivers, ready to drive into the next available open space.
Even before Salt Lake Organizing Committee began to gobble up valuable parking spaces on campus, parking was limited. The lots on campus shrunk by 1,000 spaces from last year, and the price of parking passes is the highest ever.
Although the Olympics make parking much worse this year, the problem will still exist next year.
The Associated Students of the University of Utah are trying to do something about the problem though.
After getting more than 5,000 signatures from the student body, ASUU sent a mandate to President Bernie Machen to form a team to investigate parking issues and look for realistic, long-term solutions.
ASUU began working on a parking initiative when they started getting student feedback about parking.
“Most days I hear it from someone,” said Ben Lowe, ASUU president. “It’s the most discussed issue on email.”
This concern prompted student government to seek solutions to the problem.
“Our job is to voice student concern,” Lowe said. “If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be doing our job.”
According to Lowe, parking has been an issue on campus for the last 20 years, but ASUU never did anything about the situation because the leadership did not think change was possible.
“The response from ASUU has always been, ‘We can’t do anything,'” Lowe said. “It’s getting worse, it’s not getting better.”
When Lowe first entered office, he did not really have any specific plans to deal with the parking situation. While campaigning, he promised only to add clarity to the parking signs and to change the permit-free times. It was not until recently that Lowe decided to do something more about parking.
“We felt there really were feasible solutions,” Lowe said. “That’s when we decided, ‘OK, let’s take it on.'”
ASUU leadership then decided the best way to confront the parking problem was to go through the administration. Three weeks ago, they launched a campaign to get as many student signatures as possible to give Machen.
“We felt like this was the best approach,” Lowe said. “We can’t do this without his help.”
ASUU collected 5,122 signatures and more than 40 emails about parking in one week. ASUU used a variety of methods to collect student support, but according to Colter Hammer, ASUU public relations director, the main method was face-to-face interaction.
ASUU leaders set up booths in parking lots, handed out petitions and explained what they were doing and why, in an attempt to get support.
“The administration is obviously out for the good of the students,” Hammer said. “When students rally together for something they feel is important on campus, it pushes for change. It gives the administration a reason to do something.”
On Oct. 30, Lowe and ASUU Vice President Mike Nelson presented all of the signatures and student feedback to Machen. They also gave him a letter requesting he form and fund a team to investigate the parking problem and look for realistic, long-term solutions.
Machen announced his plans to form a parking team in the Nov. 5 meeting of the Academic Senate. The task force will have eight people on it, including Lowe, Auxilliary Services Director Norm Chambers, two students, two faculty members and two staff members.
The task force will only stand for one year, and it intends to produce specific plans, including the means by which the plans can be implemented.
“Its job is not to oversee parking,” Lowe said. “It will find new and creative solutions and present a plan by the end of the year?Younger students will be able to see a plan, something I would have liked to see as a freshman.”
Lowe hopes the plan will be ready by March because summer is the best time to change things on campus or start construction projects.
The task force will not try to solve any of the Olympic related parking problems, although ASUU is working with parking services on the information campaign designed to help students know when lots are closing.
Alma Allred, director of parking services, supports the formation of a task force, although he does not think it can give students the three things they demand from parking: cheaper, more plentiful and convenient parking.
“I think it could accomplish a lot,” Allred said. “It depends on what they are trying to solve. It doesn’t matter how good the committee is, they aren’t going to solve all three.”
Allred believes that with the student support, a parking task force has the potential to make some real changes.
“It all depends on who’s screaming,” Allred said. “I think the students have started to scream, and they’ll get attention.”