When seasoned UF students think of parking on campus, words like “nightmare,” “horrendous” and “atrocious” cascade out of their mouths, alongside other words that cannot be printed here.
With nearly 50,000 students, 17,000 faculty and staff and 24,000 parking spaces, it’s easy to see why parking is such a struggle.
In an effort to control the chaos, UF has set up a strictly enforced parking policy involving color-coded decals and fines.
“We’ve got to regulate it, or it’s a mad house,” said Ron Fuller, assistant director of Parking and Transportation at UF.
Though some of the most commonly seen and desired parking lots require orange decals, students may be disappointed to find that those decals are only available to faculty.
Instead, students living on campus can buy red decals, students living off campus can buy Park & Ride decals, students living in family housing villages can park in brown lots and disabled students can park in any lot on campus.
All of these decals cost $67 a semester.
Students who want to park their scooters and motorcycles in designated lots on campus can buy a cheaper decal for $48 a semester.
Some students without decals choose to park in the UF Bookstore and Visitor Welcome Center parking garage near the Reitz Union.
There, the spaces are divided up into three categories. There are 45-minute parking spaces, 2-hour spaces, and all-day spaces. They cost $1, $3 and $5, respectively.
The only problem with this is that there are only 271 available spaces in the garage.
Students who live off campus in areas that have “Neighborhood Parking Decal Required” signs are able to buy neighborhood decals from the city, as opposed to the university. Sept. 11 is the deadline to buy neighborhood decals.
“Everyone has to have a decal or permit to park on campus,” Fuller said. “There just isn’t any free parking anymore.”
Those who break the rules and park without paying often end up paying more in fines than if they had purchased the appropriate decals in the first place.
The fines range anywhere from the relatively inexpensive, like the $15 for overstaying your welcome at a metered space, to the colossally expensive $1,200-plus you would pay for being caught using a stolen gated-lot decal.
UF pharmacy student Andy Hendrickson has his share of horror stories.
“I’ve given UF so much of my money because of parking tickets,” he said. “I’ve pretty much bought an entire semester’s worth of classes in tickets.”
Hendrickson said he once parked his car with his tires sitting on the white line. He found a $30 ticket for double parking placed on his windshield.
In another incident, he was ticketed for backing into a space instead of parking facing forward, which cost him the same amount.
In total, he said he has been ticketed at least 12 times.
In the event that you do receive a parking ticket, UF has a system where tickets can be paid online through your account with the university.
Also, if you’re feeling a bit cheated on a particular ticket, UF also has set up a system where students can appeal tickets online.
“Parking is not easy on campus,” Fuller said. “It’s not easy for [parking staff]. Most of the time I just ride my bike.”
The university has encouraged that students don’t bring their cars to school in an attempt to lighten the parking load on campus.
Your Gator 1 Card, for instance, will allow you to get free rides on RTS buses around Gainesville.
To promote the use of bikes on campus, UF student government pays for a free bike repair service station next to the Reitz Union.
There is good news for those worried that they’ll never be able to get a spot on campus, though.
All parking restrictions are generally lifted on campus at 4:30 p.m. Some lots lift parking at other times, such as the lot across from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, which lifts its restrictions at 3:30, and the lot next to Criser Hall, which opens up at 5:30.
Before then, however, getting a decent parking space is migraine-inducing.
“I can guarantee you a parking space every single day,” Fuller said. “But you know where it is? Not where you want to be.”
