UNT’s parking system will not work

Skipper · August 17, 2016

Preston Mitchell | Opinion Editor

Just when UNT’s parking situation couldn’t get much worse, the school unveiled a revamped permit system earlier this month that has caused controversy among the student body. In this case, the uproar is quite justified since UNT swept the General and Premium Commuter permits under the rug in favor of newer, more expensive permits. Furthermore, officials concluded that fewer permits will be sold this year to prevent students from “overcrowding in parking lots.”

While our leaders say they want to improve UNT’s parking issues, this new plan is problematic for several reasons.

First and foremost, look at how it’s affected Greek housing. As much as fraternities tend to be the whipping boys of Denton hipster culture, it’s important to note that hundreds of students live in frat and sorority houses near campus. Since primary parking passes sold out before students knew about the sale, they are left at the mercy of a $850 year-long pass, which only applies to Highland Street Garage.

For Greek life, it dampens matters since their parking lot was allegedly closed for “future property development.” This is an unfortunate coincidence that will force these students to buy pricey permits.

Additionally, not everyone can afford them. Sure, previous parking situations were bad enough since we paid for spots that weren’t necessarily guaranteed. Not to mention that officials ramped up the costs, stating this action as their solution for overcrowded parking. However, the pricial increase makes it harder for students swimming through debt on a daily basis; particularly the abundance of us that struggle just to pay our rent each month.

It doesn’t help that the higher-ups have limited parking times from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays without a weekend to spare. Seeing that several UNT events – like Mean Green Fling or Eagle Insomnia – go on much longer than the aforesaid time interval, students will have nowhere to park for late campus activities. The meters on Fry St. and the Village’s open spaces aren’t exactly enough to contain more than 30,000 annual attendees.

The decision to convert resident lots into Eagle permit lots, leaving room to build wholly new “R” lots, is also illogical. The entire block of Clark, Maple and Kerr Halls had perfectly sufficient “R” lots from the beginning, so making Fouts Field their closest point of parking makes no sense at all. The remaining “R” lots at Victory Hall are far enough as it is, so why make it difficult for freshmen that want a smooth college transition and nothing more?

Before you invoke the word “bus” to any questions we have, keep in mind that the school’s bus system is far from ideal. During the fall and spring semesters, the buses run slower than they should, are quick to leave students that arrive at correct times or will unabashedly skip their requisite stops. Trying to compensate for parking issues with this kind of transportation is like commanding an animal to intercept a football – at the end of the day, both measures are equally fallible.

This is what we’ve come to: a parking system that has mangled existing lots and inconvenienced residents and commuters alike. The troubles that it’s bound to cause are foreseeable beyond reason, which is ironic considering how our officials kept these plans from us until this month even began. All we can do now is hope that the system reforms itself again. Preferably sooner than later, UNT.

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