Problems With Parking

By: Sarah Remelius

November 6, 2016

While a lot of stress stems from applying for internships or preparing for exams, most college students would say a major struggle is finding parking at their universities.

The five largest universities in Texas —Texas A&M University, University of Texas, University of Houston, Texas State University, and the University of North Texas — provide parking spots for fewer than 50 percent of the students.

Rising enrollment in colleges across the country is one reason many institutions are facing this problem. According to a fall 2014 National Center for Education Statistics report, the total undergraduate enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions was 17.3 million students nationwide, an increase of 31 percent from 2000. Undergraduate enrollment is projected to increase 14 percent from 17.3 million to 19.8 million students between 2014 and 2025.

For public universities in Texas, enrollment totaled 577,000 students in fall 2012 and from 2010 to 2015 enrollment was projected to grow by 7.6 percent overall to 600,000 students.

By 2020, enrollment in Texas public universities is expected to reach 630,000 students.

Texas A&M University, which has the largest student enrollment in Texas of about 58,577 students, has about 36,000 parking spaces. About 10,000 of these are saved for faculty and staff, leaving about 26,000 spots for students — enough parking spots for about 43 percent of the students.

“I feel like the parking at A&M is generally inconvenient for students because there is a limited amount for the growing student population,” Texas A&M junior Jesus Perez said. “During my time here, it has become more difficult to find an area or spot that is easily accessible to students in regards to where their classes or dorms are.”

Because of certain regulations of when and where people can park on campus, there are more parking permits issued than there are parking spots. This is why, according to Peter Lange, executive director of transportation services at Texas A&M, about 60 percent of Texas A&M students have parking permits. The other four universities also sell more permits than there are parking spots to help make up for the lack of spaces.

“Since the student population has grown, we have felt a little bit more of a pinch this fall than we have in the past,” Lange said. “Large events that happen during the week and things like that have become more and more of a challenge.”

The University of Texas has a student population of about 50,950 and has 13,871 student parking spaces on campus. This means there are parking spots for about 27 percent of the students. While this number does seem a lot lower than that of TAMU, senior administrative associate to the director Jamie Woods said this is because UT parking is limited by the real estate it owns.

The director of parking at the University of Houston, Bob Browand, said UH also has limited options for adding additional parking due to being “landlocked,” which means they are surrounded by other organizations and businesses making it next to impossible to buy land near the campus. UH has about 42,704 students and 15,516 student parking spaces, and Texas State University has 37,979 students and 8,897 student parking spaces —there are parking spots for 36 percent of UH students and 23 percent for Texas State students.

The University of North Texas is the fifth largest university with 36,486 students and about 7,500 student parking spaces —enough parking spots for about 21 percent of the students. There is also free public parking located around campus and about 1,570 metered and garage spaces that serve on a first-come first-serve basis for students, visitors, faculty and staff.

Although UNT is not located in a very large city like Houston or Austin, transportation services director Geary Robinson said UNT is not dissimilar from other universities as it relates to transportation and parking opportunities and challenges.

“While we do still have space to grow some additional parking, we still face a growing population of students and a growing desire for more parking,” Robinson said. “We have to remain dedicated to balancing our space constraints with that desire.

Although Texas A&M is not planning to expand their parking anytime in the near future, Texas State, UT, UNT and UH are in the process of planning or considering new parking garages. To lower the demand for parking, these five universities recommend other modes of transportation such as buses, bikes, Zipcar, or other ride share services.

Not everyone agrees that parking is a major problem, including Gray Springs, a sophomore at Texas State.

“They could expand lots and build more garages, but due to the conservation of the natural beauty of the town, adding parking really isn’t an option,” Springs said. “I’d rather have 200-year-old oak trees than a premium parking spot.”