Paying for Safety

By: Sarah Remelius

October 12, 2016

When taking the half-mile, 15-minute walk from her car in San Antonio Garage to her Jester East dorm, sophomore Jazmine Batts fears for her safety.

Most of the time Batts is “lucky” and gets to park in Brazos Garage, which is located right next to her dorm. But for events like football games she has to relocate her car behind Guadalupe Street. This area, called the Drag, is known for its homeless population. She said she doesn’t like walking there at night or even during the day because “it’s a really hectic area.”

“I definitely think safety should be an important part of deciding which garages people get,” Batts said. “I got lucky and have Brazos, but having to move my car on game weekends is not only annoying, but causes me great anxiety. Relocating my car so far away from my dorm does not comfort me.”

According to Bobby Stone, director of Parking and Transportation Services, garages are sold on a first-come first-serve basis for commuter type permits, but for students living in the dorms the spaces are assigned by random draw.

When asked if safety and proximity to the assigned dorm is a factor in parking garage placement, Stone said “not in the initial draw.”

“To be fair to all, the draw is 100 percent random, but we review any concerns that come our way after the fact,” Stone said. “Historically, everyone who has entered the draw for students that live in housing has been made a garage offer.”

According to the Parking and Transportation website, there are approximately 15,858 parking spaces available on campus which is no where near the number of students, staff, faculty, and visitors of about 70,000 people. To accommodate the amount of visitors, students are forced to relocate their cars to other garages during large events like football games.

The Parking and Transportation website also says “The problem is that we are so large that we cannot get them as close as everyone wants them to be.”

UTPD is aware of this policy, but are not involved in the process of deciding where students get to park.

“The garages pay different rates and when we try to make recommendations to people on where to park we try to give them a lot of different options because students’ budgets are all over the place sometimes,” University of Texas Police Officer Robert Land said. “We haven’t really had a say in [who parks where] because getting an expensive parking permit can be a significant burden on a student’s budget.”

Brazos and 27th Street Garages, the closest to two of the largest dorms on campus, Jester and Almetris Duren, are the most expensive and cost $765 for both semesters. Permits for Trinity, Speedway, San Jacinto and San Antonio Garages cost $726.

“I think it's fair that some garages cost more than others,” sophomore Zach Falkenbury said. “Obviously some locations are more desirable than others, and as such, it's reasonable that they would cost more. I don't see anything wrong with charging more for a more premium or convenient location.”

UTPD recommends for students walking to and from their cars late at night to call SURE Walk, which is a student government agency partnered with Parking and Transportation Services that offers a volunteer escort to walk students back to their dorms, or to call their administrative line for a police escort.

“SURE Walk is one of the best ones because they have expanded hours, and they have so much availability so we usually tell students to try to call them first,” Land said. “If they can’t do it for any reason, like if they’re full or something or if it’s outside of their hours, then the police department will do it as well.”

Falkenbury, who lives off campus but has a permit for Trinity Garage, said he believes that the random lottery is fair. But many women disagree, including junior Mariana Marinho, who created Walk Together UT, a Facebook group to help female students find other students to walk with them on or around campus at night. She created this page after student Haruka Weiser was murdered on campus last April. She said this was when she realized the campus was “not as safe as she thought it was, especially for women.”

“Considering that some garages are further from others and campus can be very dark and empty at night, it is not good for women, and even men, to have to walk too long to get to their car or dorm,” Marinho said. “I have heard things from several girls, and I have experienced things myself, that make me believe that no, we are not completely safe, and most importantly, we don’t feel safe.”