Sarah Redmond M3.

3 Assignment: Final Draft - Research Summary

March 25, 2021

The USF Parking and Transportation Services
Sarah Redmond
Traffic Issues at USF

Background Information

USF is largely a commuting based university. Many of the students that attend this college
commute several times a week to school. As a result, USF campuses should try to make
commuting students’ lives easier by bettering the parking situation on USF campuses.

The following is numerical data of USF’s attendance numbers in conjunction with commuter
data:

 USF has over 50,000 students that attend campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and
Sarasota-Manatee (“University of South Florida Home”).
 In 2018, roughly only 6,300 students lived on USF’s largest campus which is the Tampa
campus (“Record-Breaking Number”).
 Approximately 85% of students commute to the Tampa campus (“Here's What Student
Life Is Like”).

Explanation of the Problem at USF/In the Local Community

The current problem is that parking is not as easily accessible or close to classes for students. In
addition, there is a severe lack of parking spots available.

The following problems are testimonials from three students attending USF:

 According to student 1, a sophomore at USF, the lack of availability for parking spots,
has forced her to park in areas that are not a part of her parking passes, resulting in tickets
and fines.
 According to student 2, a junior at USF, he has arrived to many classes late and missed
several classes because of the time spent trying to find a parking spot.
 According to student 3, a junior at USF, she has had to resort to paying parking meters
several times a month even though she has a parking pass because of the issues with
finding a parking spot.

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 Fig. 1. Sawyer, Nikki, et al. “Administration Should Expand Parking As
Enrollment Rises.” The Crows Nest at USF St Petersburg.

Causes of the Problem

The following are various causes of this problem expressed by students in USF’s local
newspaper:

 The first cause of this problem is that USF has routinely sold as much as twice the
amount of parking permits than available spaces (Editor, Oracle).

 Secondly, students are parking in the incorrect spots because there is a lack of parking in
their designated sections; thus, causing more students to park in wrong sections (Larkin).

 Thirdly, parking spots are not located close enough to many classes (Editor, Oracle).

 Fourthly, Parking and Transportation Services have been reported occupying student
reserved spots (Larkin).

 Fifthly, there is not enough information being given to students about additional open
areas to park (Larkin).

Impacted Population

The impacted population by this issue are the students that commute to USF.

The following are the impacts this problem has to the commuting students:

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  Students are routinely late for class or in some cases miss class altogether which can
negatively affect their education.
 Disruptions to classes occur when these late students enter into classes that are already in
progress.
 The parking issues have increased the stress levels of USF students.
 Students are financially impacted by the cost of purchasing a parking pass combined with
the additional costs of paying parking fines and parking meters.

In conclusion, USF Parking and Transportation Services needs to address these issues expressed
by many commuting students. The problem of not being able to quickly and easily find a parking
spot on USF campuses has impacted students emotionally, financially, and educationally. Since
many classes have been moved online due to Covid-19, now is the perfect time for USF Parking
and Transportation Services to seize this opportunity to improve this parking issue. Therefore,
when the university’s campuses are fully operational this problem will be resolved.

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 Works Cited

Editor, Oracle. “Student Frustration Builds over Campus Parking.” The Oracle, 27 Aug. 2019,
www.usforacle.com/2016/08/24/student-frustration-builds-over-campus-parking/.
Accessed 24 March 2021.  

Florida, University of South. “University of South Florida Home.” Welcome to the University of

South Florida | Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee, FL, www.usf.edu/.  Accessed
24 March 2021.  

Florida, University of South. “Record-Breaking Number of Students to Live on USF's Main

Campus.” USF News, 16 Aug. 2018, www.usf.edu/news/2018/record-breaking-number-
students-live-on-usf-main-campus.aspx. Accessed 24 March 2021.  

“Here's What Student Life Is Like At University of South Florida.” U.S. News & World Report,
U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/best-colleges/university-of-south-florida-
1537/student-life. Accessed 24 March 2021.  

Niamh Larkin, STAFF WRITER. “Student Parking Frustration Grows, Some Blame
PATS.” The Oracle, 24 Sept. 2019, www.usforacle.com/2019/09/24/student-parking-
frustrations-grows-some-have-pats-to-blame/. Accessed 24 March 2021.  

Sawyer, Nikki, et al. “Administration Should Expand Parking As Enrollment Rises.” The Crows
Nest at USF St Petersburg, 3 Apr. 2021,
https://crowsneststpete.com/2016/09/27/administration-should-expand-parking-as-
enrollment-rises/. Accessed 3 April 2021.