The Parking Hassle

Assignment-7A

1.     The parking situation on UF’s campus and many other college campuses.

2.     The parking on UF’s campus and Gainesville overall is terrible. Especially for students who live off campus, the lack of and the guidelines regarding times during the week when off campus students or virtually anyone can park on campus. Many campuses around the world deal with parking problems and full parking lots 24/7.

-       Who: Students, visitors, and residents

-       What: Unable to find a place to park legally during the day

-       Why: Campus rules along with the uncertainty about certain areas to park.

3.      

-       Test who: Along with everyone that I mentioned before, I also believe that campus staff and visitors on gameday may have this problem. This need expands way outside of Gainesville onto other college campuses

-       Test what: The main areas of this need surround the sports complexes on campus such as football, basketball, and baseball stadiums especially if there are upcoming games.

-       Test why: I would say everyone listed above go through the same routine. The only people that I would say this does not account for includes gameday staff or athletes. The ones to blame are the school itself for not having a more efficient parking system on campus.

4.     Interviews:

Sophomore at UF (lives off campus)

-       After speaking with the first interviewee, I learned that he does not experience this problem personally but understands the issue greatly and believes something should be done. I mentioned the possibility of an app that specifies open or taken parking spots as well as identifying places where one is able to park. The interviewee thought it would be a great but costly addition to campus.

Sophomore who lives in fraternity house at UF:

-       The main problem this student has is that there is not a better system for gameday parking. He believes that visitors should be able to purchase parking prior to gameday around Gainesville. He believes that parking should be lifted during the week at earlier times.

Football season ticket holder for UF

-       This interviewee wishes Gainesville and UF campus has a better parking situation but understands that parking on a college campus should not be the campuses first priority. He believes the use of an interactive app would benefit the situation and would let him have a better understanding of where to park whenever he visits.

Female Junior at UF

-       This interviewee believes the school will have to eventually redevelop campus in order to include more parking. He believes the opportunity is inevitable but will take forever until something is done. He believes an app would be valuable but dangerous as it promotes phone usage while driving especially on a college campus.

Female Sophomore at FSU

-       This person agrees that she deals with similar issues at Florida State. She wishes that parking times would be lifted earlier during the work week. She does not think that the creation of an interactive parking app would be beneficial at FSU.

5. While doing steps 1-3, I learned that the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Through the interviews I learned that almost everyone has this issue especially on UF's campus. It will be interesting if the school takes action in the next few years.