Matthew BORG
The Parking Problem Solved, at Long Last? I
t’s been every student’s headache, or rather nightmare, for donkey’s years now, and, by the looks of things, it doesn’t seem as if it will ever go away. No, I’m not talking about ‘Condomania’ on Campus (thank God that petty debate seems to have died down!), but about the parking problem that only gets worse as time goes by, especially because, more often than not, various cranes, cement mixers and concrete barriers occupy precious space all over campus. But alas, a relatively simple solution may actually be right on our doorstep, and it might just eliminate the need of having to go into the merits of whether an underground car park should be constructed on the site of Car Park 6, thereby also bringing an end to a debate that has been going on for too long. Unfortunately, however, this proposal cannot work without adopting the following assumption; indeed, this point is absolutely critical to the working of the entire scheme. Assuming that the white boxes that one currently finds in Car Park 6 are more or less equal to the amount of blue boxes that one finds on the ring road, KSU and the Uni-
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The Insiter • MAy 2011
versity could lobby for a direct swap of these spaces. In other words, the blue boxes that students currently occupy in the ring road could be made white (reserved for administrative and non-academic staff), while the white boxes in Car Park 6 could be painted blue. This would leave the students with the lower level of Car Park 1, Car Park 4, and all of Car Park 6 at their disposal. The most important point here is that all of these car parks are independently accessible and, per se, are not directly linked to other car parks. This means that KSU will be able to implement a system whereby these car parks could be cordoned off by means of barriers being placed at entry and exit points (if separate, such as in the case of Car Park 1 and Car Park 6), or at the designated entry point of a car park (as is the case with Car Park 4). With the barriers in place, students would then be asked to purchase a parking card from KSU, which would be valid either for the duration of a scholastic year, or else for a period of two years (in a similar manner to the current sticker system). The only difference is that this card would be available against a fee imposed by KSU. I propose that this would be around €50. So as to not set back students financially, this could also be smart card refundable. In this manner, KSU would curb abuse of the system (where it is often the case that non-students park in blue boxes), as well as generate a source of income, which could, for example, be directed towards a fund that could eventually, over the years to come, generate a sufficient percentage of money forthe eventual construction of the aforementioned multi-storey car park. Furthermore, if one had to consider, this would probably reduce the amount of cars being driven to University, as some would refuse to pay the stipulated fee, meaning that alternative modes of transport or even car pooling would be used more frequently, keeping in line with the Government’s aims. While this proposal might not be too popular, it seems that everyone stands to gain from the implementation of such a scheme, or something similar. Gone perhaps will be the days whereby the majority of us will have to come to University at 8am for a 10 o’clock lecture. And finally, at long last, there will be a situation of controlled parking.