TUCC students face parking issues

Validation system problems recently caused headaches for TUCC students. Management is working to correct them.

Students who take classes at TUCC recently found themselves forced to pay $8 more for guaranteed discount spots at the Centre Square garage at 15th and Market streets.

In an e-mail sent to TUCC students the last week of October, Associate Director William Schreiber addressed technical difficulties with the validation process for the garage. Some students who have parked there after 3 p.m. on weekdays or during weekends, times when discounted parking in guaranteed, were being charged $13 instead of $5, according to his e-mail.

If the price comes up as $13 after inserting a validated ticket, Schreiber urged students to cancel their payment and notify a Central Parking employee to have their ticket knocked down to $5.

Centre Square Parking Manager James Urso noted the efforts he and his staff went through to alert students about these technical difficulties.

“[Central Parking employees] have posted signs on the payment machines reading ‘Attention Temple Discount Parkers,’ which provide specific directions on how to correct the miscalculation,” he said. “More importantly, we have provided TUCC with discount validation tickets to use until the technical problem is properly diagnosed and corrected.”

This technical difficulty has added to the frustration TUCC students are experiencing with the Centre Square Garage. Other than this malfunction, many students expressed dissatisfaction with its fare rates and parking times.

Central Parking charges $5 a space for Temple students for parking between 3 p.m. and midnight weekdays and up to 12 hours on weekends, Urso said. Before 3 p.m. weekdays, students must pay the regular fees to use the garage.

“I think [the fare] should be $5 all day, especially during the SEPTA strike,” senior human resource management major Joe McEvoy said, adding that he does not like the rule that students cannot park at the discounted rate until after 3 p.m.

Senior Elina Shklovin echoed McEvoy’s opinions. Shklovin, also a human resource management major, said she was frustrated with parking at TUCC.

“Spots are tight,” she said, adding that the time rules for discounted parking were an inconvenience.
“I think it should be open from morning until night because people who have night classes have to come in early to do assignments, and it’s not fair to make us pay $29,” Shklovin said.

Other than these issues, students have much to complain about. Urso acknowledged he and employees received complaints from students regarding the TUCC security staff, claiming they have refused to validate their ticket which had correct entry time and a valid Owl Card for identification.

Schreiber said he was unaware of these complaints. He stressed the rules set in place, which prohibit students from using the parking garage at its discounted rate for anything other than Temple-related activities, including class, faculty appointments, meetings and lab use.

Senior risk management and insurance and legal studies major Kendall Givens said she recently started taking advantage of the discounted parking at TUCC and was thankful for the garage.

“I wish it was free, but it’s OK,” Givens said. “At least it’s a place where we can park for just temporarily.”
The Centre Square garage is privately owned and managed by Central Parking, but has a partnership with TUCC. Another garage in the area, Expert Parking’s location on Market Street at 17th Street, also offers the discounted rates to students for night and weekend parking at TUCC.

“[The partnership between the Centre Square garage and TUCC was] probably based on location and convenience to TUCC,” Urso said, noting that he was unsure of its actual origin.

Schreiber said the garage is very beneficial to TUCC students.

“Temple has had a relationship with Central Parking for many years, and there have been very few problems,” he said. “When I distribute the parking information over the TUCC student listserv at the beginning of each semester I often receive replies from students saying how much they appreciate the discounted rate of $5.”

Lena Van can be reached at lena.van@temple.edu.

Hefty fines for parking, no solutions

Parking on Main Campus has repeatedly been a growing pain and a nuisance for all the students that have to drive to campus.

Unfortunately, things have apparently gotten worse, especially for students with classes after 8:40 a.m.

With the construction of the new Tyler School of Art and Alter Hall, there are new “No Parking” signs lining the most convenient street behind the Student Center. The busy block of 12th Street and Montgomery Avenue is where late night “TECHies” tend to park their cars for all-nighters.

As you head toward Cecil B. Moore Avenue from 12th Street, the right-hand side of the street lost about six parking spots during the summer, with two new “No Parking” signs taking their place. Parking on campus has transformed from an annoying headache to a full blown migraine.

“I got a ticket there because they added that sign over the summer,” said Melissa Menardy, a junior tourism and hospitality management major.

Her $41 parking ticket is only one of her parking frustrations.

“On-campus parking is so much money that I have to park on the street, and when I do, I have to park four or five blocks away from all of my classes,” she added.

Most Main Campus parking lots request exact change while some are guaranteed access only, which means the spots are already paid for. All the spots are high priced, including the lot across the street from the Student Center, which costs $12 to park for a college student who probably isn’t even making $10 per hour at work.

The frustration definitely goes beyond Temple students, as some faculty members have decided to leave their cars at home all together.

“I ride a bicycle,” said George Miller, assistant professor of journalism. “So parking is a breeze.”

There are some incentives for not driving to campus. The lack of parking spots can motivate people to walk, ride bikes, skateboard and rollerblade or utilize other recreational means of transportation.

What about when it gets cold outside? What about the mornings you can’t ride your bicycle over the black ice-streaked streets with ruthless Philadelphia drivers intimidating bikers on the road? The exercise sounds like an easy way to make up for lost gym time, but the potential accidents and the freezing cold temperatures force students to car pool, use public transportation or walk. SEPTA is not the safest mode of transportation, and some people just don’t have enough time to spend a half an hour walking to campus.

Unfortunately, it seems the most convenient solution would be to drive to campus and dig a hole in your pockets for the parking lots, semester parking passes or the same for parking tickets.

In the end, you may find that you’d almost be spending the same amount of money on parking tickets as you would for the on-campus lots or a semester long pass.

Tara Moore can be reached at tara.moore@temple.edu.