Forming An Opportunity Belief

I believe there is an opportunity to help students find parking more efficiently on campus. Although this is an issue that has been tried to be fixed several times, it still doesn’t seem to get any better. With about 50,000 students and about 3,500 faculty members at the University of Florida, parking will definitely become an issue during Fall and Spring semester, since these two are the busiest of the 3 semesters. I believe that creating an app that shows the status of the parking lots and if it has empty parking spaces or not would be very beneficial for students with cars, especially the ones that live on campus. Currently, UF Is working on building more parking spaces, but even with these spaces added, there will still not be enough parking for the students. Considering the workload that would have to go into making this happen, I think there is a 60% chance it being completed.

#1 18 year old male freshman living on campus

·      Have you had any problems with parking since you started going to UF?

o   Yes, on my first week here I tried to drive to my classes thinking that it was going to be easier and faster. After that, I just drive whenever I go off campus to buy groceries or something.

·      When you come back from getting groceries, is it easy for you to find parking?

o   No. That is always a big struggle because I can spend up to 30 minutes trying to find a lot that has parking available.

·      Did you know parking was going to be an issue at UF?

o   I honestly never heard about parking being an issue and even when I toured here I always had the idea that because this was such a big campus, there was going to be enough parking for everyone. I never really noticed the issue until that first week.

·      What other option do you chose with parking being an issue?

o   I usually just walk around wherever I need to go and if I have to go off campus I try to take the bus since there is a few bus stops are close my apartment.

·      Do you think the university should be taking more action regarding this issue?

o   I honestly believe that it should be approached, but I shouldn’t be number one on their agenda. Even though it was kind of a hassle at the beginning, I do like walking to my classes because I can walk with my friends and it’s also a great exercise which gives me an excuse to not go to the gym!

Reflection: This issue does not affect students living on campus enough for it to be a big issue.  

#2 21 year old female junior living off campus

·      Have you had any problems with parking since you started going to UF?

o   I definitely have had problems with parking, especially when I moved off campus about a year ago. .

·      Do you usually drive to your classes?

o   I try to as much as I can but going from lot to lot trying to see where there’s an empty space can be time consuming and it has made me been late to class on various occasions

·      Did you know parking was going to be an issue at UF?

o   I’ve heard of it and I even saw memes on the “Swampy Memes” page but I honestly wasn’t affected by it until I moved off-campus. I would usually just walk everywhere since I lived in Beaty for my first 2 years and everything was pretty close to me.

·      What other option do you chose with parking being an issue?

o   Sometimes I try to take the bus but its honestly so inconvenient because I have to wake up really earl to make sure I get a spot on the bus. I live in an area with a lot of apartments so there have been many times where the bus comes to my stop and it just keeps going because it’s full so I have to wait for the next one that comes in 30 minutes.

·      Do you think the university should be taking more action regarding this issue?

o   I definitely think they should because I really hate the bus and taking my car doesn’t make it any easier a lot. I’ve even woken up like 2 hours before my class so I can make it to campus with an hour to spare before my class so I have time to look for parking.

Reflection: People who live on campus are really affected by this issue, especially if the bus route that stops in their apartment complex is not very effective.

#3: 21 year old male junior living off-campus

·      Have you had any problems with parking since you started going to UF?

o   Oh yeah, I think parking was my number one issue my sophomore year when my parents bought e a car.

·      Do you usually drive to your classes?

o   Depending on the semester: I’m in the Innovation Academy so my full semesters are Spring and Summer. During Spring, I barely drive my car, I only use it for groceries. Over the Summer campus is pretty much empty so I drive to my classes.

·      Did you know parking was going to be an issue at UF?

o   Yes, I had friend that were older than me who were already enrolled at UF that told me all about it. That’s why I didn’t even rush to get a car.

·      What other option do you chose with parking being an issue?

o   I usually just ride the bus. It works pretty well on my apartment complex; if I miss one there’s another one coming in 15 minutes so I’m usually not late to class.

·      Do you think the university should be taking more action regarding this issue?

o   I mean, I know it’s pretty hard to try to accommodate 50,000 students on campus but I definitely think that they should still try to make it more accessible. There are so any students that live off campus and even though the bus is pretty frequent, it’s still not completely reliable.

Reflection: Even if the bus works for certain off-campus students, being able to drive to their classes and not depend on the bus’s specific schedule would be more convenient.

Summary:

I think that there is definitely interest on coming up with a better solution for parking accessibility. Talking to students that live on campus made me realize that this issue is not too bad for them since they really don’t mind walking. The people that are mostly affected are definitely students that live off-campus and I believe that talking to more off campus students would help come up with a more specific solution than the one that I have but I still feel like it’s a good start.