Students share common frustrations when parking on campus

Many students find that the parking lot closest to the quad wall building frequently has openings. (photo by Kolbe Dolin)

By Kolbe Dolin | Contributor

Sophomore computer science major Daelyn Doughty collapsed to his desk, panting, having barely made it to class on time.

His Apple watch vibrated.

“Congratulations! You’ve completed your cardio requirements for the day!”

Sweaty, tired, and fatigued, Doughty struggled to take notes. If his next parking spot was any further away, he’d have to Uber from the lot.

Augusta University’s parking policy has long been a source of controversy among students. This has only been exacerbated by the recent return to in-person classes, which has seen many new students struggling to navigate the bureaucracy. Some opt to buy the pass, some park off campus and some simply ignore the rules.

“I paid for the parking pass my first two semesters,” said Doughty. “Ever since then though, I have opted to avoid the fee by parking off-campus and commuting to class from there.”

Others, like sophomore physics major Lawrence Almeter, bought the pass retroactively.

“I do currently have the parking pass mostly because I have already gotten a warning for not having one,'“ said Almeter.

Augusta University currently charges $50 per semester to park on the Summerville campus. Almeter said the university’s transportation fee is enough, and that it shouldn’t cost extra just to park.

“I personally see no need to charge students for parking when they are already paying for a transportation fee as well as many other fees that might not even relate to them,” said Almeter.

Doughty shares a similar, if not more pointed opinion.

“I think on campus parking should be free for students, faculty, and university staff,” he said. “In a world where I do not have to pay for parking anywhere, it seems extremely dumb that I should pay for parking at an establishment I am already paying to be at.”

Both students said that any issues with parking are made even worse on the Health Sciences campus.

“Let’s not kid ourselves and say that parking on the Health Sciences Campus does not, pardon my French, suck,” said Doughty. “The only parking decks near locations of interest on the Health Sciences Campus are in a perpetual state of maximum occupancy, leaving you with a hike long enough to reach your calorie goal for the day by the time you reach your first class.”

Almeter notes his difficulty not just with Health Science parking, but also with the university’s shuttles.

“I don’t like the parking at all on the Health Science campus.,” he said. “There is not enough undergrad parking close by the classroom buildings themselves and students must either walk a long distance or ride the shuttle which can take up to 30 minutes on a bad day.”

Last month, Augusta University announced that the University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved the building of a new parking deck on the Health Science Campus that would contain over 1,000 spaces.

When Augusta University officially transferred many math and science classes to the Health Sciences Campus, an attempt to curtail student frustration was made by implementing the aforementioned shuttle system.

For Almeter, this bag has been mixed.

“I once saw three [shuttles] pass my stop, pick up nobody, and loop back around ten minutes later to do the same thing,” said Almeter. “Luckily, that bug has been mostly worked out, and the wait times are much shorter now than before.”

Contact Kolbe Dolin at kdolin@augusta.edu.