A new restriction has been placed on the UF Park and Ride II lot.
UF students with a Park and Ride decal are required to move their cars Fridays at 4 p.m. until Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for home football game weekends only, said Scott Fox, the director of Transportation and Parking Services.
Fox said a message about the new parking restrictions was sent Tuesday before the Tennessee home game Saturday. Emails were sent out, fliers were placed on cars and an electric sign was placed outside informing students of the new restriction. Fox also went to speak to the managers of nearby apartment complexes.
“We try, and as politely as possible, ask that we please just bear with us for these home football weeks so that people coming to the games have a place to park,” he said.
The Park and Ride lot was intended for students who live off campus to drive to campus, park there during the day and empty out the lot at night, Fox said.
However, about 70 to 80 students have been using their Park and Ride decals to store their cars overnight because their apartment complexes have run out of parking, Fox said. This has changed the dynamics of the lot, which means less parking for trailers, Hilton Hotel guests, visitors and UF donors who need a place to park on gameday, he said.
Students were encouraged to move their cars to Park and Ride Lot I on Friday and Saturday.
“We’re not telling those students to go off campus to take their car away, we’re just saying to take it out of those lots,” Fox said.
Nuha Chowdary, a UF industrial engineering junior, has had her Park and Ride decal for two years. She moved her car Friday because she was scared it would be towed and was confused about the new restriction.
“I don’t understand why it’s in place, first of all, because during the game I didn’t see that many cars in the lot,” she said.
Fox said there were fewer cars because it was a recovery week for Hurricane Irma, which deterred people from coming to the game like they normally would.
Chowdary said the change has made it harder for her to get to her car. Instead of it being parked at the lot behind her apartment, she now has to move her car further away.
“It’s actually pretty annoying because now I have to park at Southwest (Recreation Center),” she said. “I have to bus to my car, so it’s really inconvenient not having it here.”
