NC State’s campus is large and confusing. It’s 2,137 acres large and is home to several different paths and tunnels which may make campus intimidating to visitors and new students. However, even more confusing than navigating campus is figuring out how to park when you arrive.

Often, when a new person steps onto campus, the first question that arises is “Where should I park?” The answer to that question is more convoluted and lengthy than it should be. 

For a visitor, there is no free parking from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. If you want to park, you must pay for parking. For Dan Allen and Coliseum Decks, the tolls are $2 for the first hour and $1 for each consecutive 30 minutes, up to a maximum of $10. This toll is undoubtedly an odd way to introduce new people to life at NC State, especially for a university that markets a “welcoming” campus on its website.

Parking issues do not just end there. It is very costly for students and employees to park at NC State. If you are a student or an employee, the cost of parking ranges from $210-$1,428 annually.

Although the cost presents its own issue for less fortunate staff and students, the service you pay for is never truly guaranteed. Anybody can park in permit spaces before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. on weekdays for all non-reserved parking. Students’ classes usually range from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so it’s unlikely their parking spots will be taken when they arrive on campus each day. However, employees can work whenever the buildings are open, even longer if the employee is a maintenance worker.

As a part-time employee of Talley Student Union, I have heard this complaint shoveled at me several times. I think the worst came from my boss, of all people. She told me she was late to work because she could not find any parking due to those without permits parking in her permit zone.

I’ve also heard from professional staff that during new student orientation, visitors were told they could park in employee parking spots, making it very difficult to find parking.

So what can be done if our parking is an issue for our visitors, students and employees? The only resolution is the creation of more parking spots.

There are currently 20,000 parking spots, but we have an enrollment of more than 36,000 people. This number doesn’t include the traffic we get from visitors and our full-time staff.

Not all students or staff drive to school currently; this number would certainly increase if more parking spots were available. This increase in parking spots would potentially increase revenue for our school, making it mutually beneficial.

Another added benefit would be a decrease in parking rates. Due to the added revenue from more parking spaces, the University could decrease the hefty expenses that a non-guaranteed parking spot causes.

I understand that many ecological and environmental issues may be at stake, but there are resolutions to this issue. There may not be space right now, but NC State could add space and floors to the parking garages we already have. 

This solution allows for more space for cars without unnecessary destruction of the already damaged environment in our area. An example of this destruction came when the State Fairgrounds took down several acres of trees in an attempt to create more space for parking. 

Writers at Technician have written about parking issues in several articles and pointed out that there were no attempts to solve this problem, thus making the situation worse. In general, NC State’s allocation of resources needs to change to benefit the largest amount of people possible. If changes were made to parking, it would help everyone who stepped foot on our campus. For too long, our University has tried to add more and more students to its roster without introducing more parking spots. It’s time for a change to be made. It’s time for NC State to “think and do” better for parking.