Student looks for solutions to parking problem
With congestion in Humber’s parking lot one student is looking to find a solution to a problem that keeps on growing.
Endless circling: It’s a fate that many students have faced on Humber campus, as parking lots start to get packed to capacity in the early morning.
Tristian Wells is a student who decided to start a petition for Humber parking issues in mid-January. It states:
“Students parking in “Pay on exit” parking areas at Humber College North campus are experiencing extremely long wait times, insufficient number of spaces and unprofessional security protocols.”
The petition has just over 250 signatures, half-way to its goal of 500.
The form may not have reached its goal yet, but it has already affected the parking on campus.
Humber’s director of public safety, Rob Kilfoyle, says the petition’s mention of unprofessional security protocols stirred an investigation.
“It was a result of the petition-seeing that there was a concern about professionalism and customer service-that we took action,” he says, “they identified one of the security staff who was not acting the most professional, and certainly not meeting our customer service standard, so we had them removed.”
Kilfoyle says parking attendants at Humber go through several rounds of training before they are put on the lots.
The petition outlines some of Wells’ other concerns, including overcrowding and long wait times.
The parking lot has around 3,200 spots, says Kilfoyle, with the total population of the school reaching towards 20,000 students.
Abdi Hired is one of the attendants stationed around the lots, and he says he’s often telling people they have to go to Queen’s Plate, the official overflow parking for Humber North Campus.
Kilfoyle says the Queen’s plate lot never gets full.
“That’s one of our frustrations in our department,” he says, “we have all this available parking up at Queen’s Plate…and it’s just not being well utilized by students.”
Lexie Johnson is a commuter who signed the petition by writing “if you’re not at school by 7am you’re not going to get a parking space.”
Kilfoyle says that Wednesdays are the busiest days this semester, with the lots filling up by 8:15 a.m.
“You either have to arrive on campus early, early, before 8 o’ clock, or save yourself the headache and go to the Queen’s Plate. It’s what it’s there for,” he says.
Queen’s Plate parking lot holds about 682 cars, and Kilfoyle says it’s never been more than half full this term.
Erica Wilk is a student who has parked at Queen’s Plate in the past, and says the cold weather affects her willingness to use the lot.
“The shuttle is convenient, but still, waiting in the cold is awful,” she says.
The petition was put together in mid-January, which Kilfoyle says correlates to a pattern.
“It’s always busier at the beginning of the term,” Kilfoyle says, “the first two weeks in January are always the busiest.”
In the future, there may be a plan to build a parkade around campus, allowing for extra parking space.
“There’s an application for the ministry right now for the expansion of Guelph-Humber, so if that project were to ever get the green light…then it’s in our plans to develop a parking structure,” says Kilfoyle.
About the Author
Emily Monster is a 3rd year Media Studies student at the University of Guelph-Humber
Related Posts
Sleep in students: How much is enough? →
Getting your nails done can be fun and relaxing, but is it safe? →
Co-curricular record to help students get involved →
One Response to Student looks for solutions to parking problem