For this assignment I have chosen to tackle the opportunity of the limited parking availability at the University of Florida.
Who: Students at UF
What: lack of parking spaces available
Why: UF does not dedicate enough spaces for students
WHO/WHAT/WHY revisited after interviews:
WHO: The lack of parking at the University of Florida affects more people than one may originally think. For starters, it affects students on campus and off campus that have cars and have trouble finding parking spaces. It also affects students who have chose not to get a car due to the parking chaos. It also affects staff because students who grow frustrated with looking for parking often give in and just park in staff spot which of course affects staff trying to find parking.
WHAT: As a result of the limited parking spaces available to students, students are forced to be late for class/meetings/clubs because of time time dedicated to find a parking spot. Students are also put into insecure situations due to having to park miles away and walk back to campus alone, especially at night. This was something that I haven't even thought of until students mentioned it while interviewing them. While UF does provide back up option like busses and the SNAP service, students have found these to be unreliable and often even more time consuming.
WHY: The why is due to a large amount of students and a small amount of parking spaces. There also seems to be an unbalance due to an excess amount of staff spots available and the amount of students unable to find proper student parking. This problem is also worsened when events like football games occur.
SUMMARY: The interviews I conducted for this opportunity were extremley informative. My brain was stuck in the direct consequence mode and I was unable to see the ripple effect of the lack of parking until interviewees pointed it out. Interviewees also introduced the compelling reason for this opportunity to be safety. Students should not be put in uncomfortable situations because of UF's lack of available parking. Handicapped persons should also not be put in situations where they have to walk unreasonable amounts due to inability to find reasonable parking.
https://soundcloud.com/user-384275903/testing-the-hypothesis-interview-1
https://soundcloud.com/user-384275903/testing-the-hypothesis-interview-2
https://soundcloud.com/user-384275903/testing-the-hypothesis-interview-3
https://soundcloud.com/user-384275903/testing-the-hypothesis-interview-4
https://soundcloud.com/user-384275903/testing-the-hypothesis-interview-5
As an online student, the only time I have noticed the parking limitations at the school is for the football games! We have just always parked about a mile away (generally in someone's yard-paying a few dollars). It's really scary to think about the dangers for the students that have to park so far away. Maybe the should consider a couple more parking garages and designate them for on-campus students.
ReplyDeleteHi Becky,
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is definitely a problem with student parking on campus. There is no parking spaces for students and I believe it is the school priority to fix this problem. I have a car, but I do not use my car to go to school because there is no parking spots whenever I arrive on campus. I have to take the bus and it really sucks that I do not use my car as much. I also agree that people with disabilities should also be considered in having room to park in the parking lot. I am thinking of creating an app to help solve my opportunity, which can be found here: http://yessiblogging.blogspot.com/2016/05/my-solution.html
Hey Becky,
ReplyDeleteAs an online student I have only had to deal with this problem once but I definitely noticed it was a problem. When I went to campus for orientation there was no where to park. I ended up parking on a side road and just prayed that I didn't get towed. I can't even imagine would that would be like to deal with on a daily basis. I think that the there should absolutely be more parking options. Maybe a garage could be built for students where access could only be granted to those with a student badge. I think this would be a great help.
Hi Becky,
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely a problem with parking on campus. It only gets worse when the University administration decides to get rid of some parking lots for new buildings. While I am all for the school upgrading and getting new facilities, I do not believe that they should be aggravating an already large problem.For example, this past year they had gotten rid of a parking lot near Buckman hall. This was done to put in a new chemistry building. If you can find some way to help with this problem, I know many people will be very happy to use your product.
http://jrscottratt.blogspot.com/2016/05/testing-hypothesis-part-1.html
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI think we can ALL relate to the parking problem in UF. I think people lose their minds at least once a week trying to look for parking, especially during rush hour or when there are large events happening on campus. I think it would be great to find a solution to this problem. How you would potentially do it is gonna be the biggest obstacle. Check out my blog:
https://ent3003blog.wordpress.com/2016/05/29/testing-the-hypothesis-part-1/
Parking is always a great problem to solve. I do not live in Gainesville but I live in Miami and do visit Miami Beach and Downtown Miami where parking is just terrible. I don't know if you can get a petition of some sort and present it to the university for a parking garage to help with that situation. I wish you the best of luck!
ReplyDeleteHey Becky,
ReplyDeleteI found your idea to be a very relevant issue that many UF student face. Personally I have yet to try to find parking at UF in order to avoid the hectic, stressful, chaos of finding a spot. This issue of the lack of parking spaces seems to be to the unanticipated growth of the university population. More parking garages should be build near campus to help accommodate those who choose to travel using cars or scooters. Also the problems you pointed out about safety is very true. If a student is trying to travel at night, they face greater risk of harm due to unavailable transport. Services like Uber have increased in popularity but the cost that comes with it tends to add up to a large amount. UF should more as I feel and from your interviews, that any student recognizes this issue. Check my blog out at http://jpmorgan15.blogspot.com/2016/05/looking-for-opportunity.html
Becky,
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see what idea you develop! I think the parking issue on campus is definitely really bad and needs to be addressed ASAP. I didn't think about the ripple effect until after I listened to your interviews. I enjoyed your interviews! Keep up the great work!
Hey Becky,
ReplyDeleteIt's honestly kind of ridiculous when you think about how bad parking is at UF. If you live off campus you pretty much have to park and in the park and ride lot and it's so far away from the rest of campus that it adds at least 20 minutes to your commute. I lived about a 3 minute drive from the park and ride lot, and I think to get to my classes at the bussiness usually took about 30 minutes. You would think that with the millions of dollars UF gets every year from all the overpriced stuff we pay for, that we could at least have some solid infrastructure and parking. Here is my blog: http://jaredpape.blogspot.com/