FSC Changes Parking System

Officials incentivize taking shuttle from apartments to campus

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Jillian Kurtz

At the start of each new academic year, students that are planning on bringing their vehicles to campus must register them with the school and purchase a parking permit.

Due to a limited number of parking spaces on campus, students residing off campus were given two options for parking permits.

Permit option #1, at $60, restricts students from parking on campus Monday through Friday 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. Permit option #2, at $250, allows these students to park on campus anytime, except for special event restrictions.

If the restrictions are not followed, the student will be assessed a fine of $100.00. The fine will immediately be billed to the student’s account and there will be no appealing the citation.

If a student receives three such violations in the same semester, the vehicle will be towed off campus, at the owner’s expense, and parking privileges will be taken away.

Members of the administration cited environmental concerns as a reason for the change. The move is to encourage off campus residential students to use alternative methods in coming to campus, such as bicycling, taking the shuttle service, or walking, according to the Florida Southern website—shuttles now run more frequently and are greater in number.

Lake Hollingsworth Apartments resident, Meg Thompson, worked extra hours at her job before coming back to campus in order to compensate for the difference in parking permit prices.

“I understand where the school was coming from in trying to encourage upperclassmen to take other modes of transportation to school, but it puts us in a tricky spot if we need to get to campus in a hurry and don’t make it to the shuttle,” Thompson said.

In comparison, the cost for a parking permit for on-campus residential students is $120, less than half of what an off-campus student would pay for the same parking privileges.

The change in pricing has caused students to express their feelings through social media and other outlets. Many expressed feelings of discontent surrounding issues of communication.

The Student Government Association has taken complaints into account. Students can voice their opinions by emailing sga@flsouthern.edu  or by submitting a comment to a box in various locations across campus.

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