I find the problems presented by students in this article laughable and sad at the same time. Laughable, because signage is clearly posted in each parking lot. If you have a “Y” permit, you can only park in “Y” lots, simple as that. It is also sad because there are USF administrators who probably think these few individuals are representative of the student body. Fortunately, they are not.
These kind of complaints take away from any real discussion about parking. While PATS has added more garages and spaces over the years, the reality is that they have a perverse incentive to issue tickets – the revenue makes up $140,000 of their budget!
Back when President Genshaft announced that parking rates (among other fees) would stay flat for 2012-2013, the cynic in me knew the revenue would be made up in another way. This past year has seen an increase in underutilized lots, such as Lot 2B, next to the BioScience and Interdisciplinary Sciences
buildings, being converted to “pay by space” spots, rather than changed to an “S” or “E” designation. Casual observation has revealed that many of the people who park in these paid spaces have “S” permits. You also cannot forget the numerous lot closures at the Sun Dome for private entertainment events, but that’s for another day.
There are issues with parking at USF, but students not being able to follow clearly marked signage is not one of them.
Toby Thomson is a senior majoring in biology.
