VU Parking Problems by Larissa Werbiuk

Picture this - alarm goes off at 7:30am and you’re lying in bed mentally abusing your alarm and dreading your 9am lecture. Then suddenly BAM, you remember it’s going to take at least 10 minutes to find a car park at Victoria University Footscray campus. Doing the math, you know it will take at least 30 minutes to get ready, around 40 minutes driving to Victoria University battling peak hour traffic - to then spend at least 10 minutes creating enemies in the car park, fighting/stealing a car space and of course 10 minutes walking to class and grabbing a must, COFFEE!! And guess what, you already know its going to be a tough morning.

VU has two major car parks, one situated on Ballarat road and the other Fisher Parade, and yet it’s honestly still not enough for the amount of students. Unless you have a class after 3pm you will continuously circling the car park for a space.

St Albans campus is newer then Footscray’s and upon being built, obviously latched on that they need to cater to the amount of student drivers. The light bulb has finally switched on at Footscray that they need a resolution to their parking issues. But some may say a little too late… others may even say construction has finally started at the worst possible time - the start of semester 1, when students are grappling with new environments and timetables! I like to think I’m quite cluey being at university, and if I recall correctly, VU had at least 4 months to get started on this project from the end of 2014 semester 2 to the start of semester 1 this year!

Another issue of VU Footscray is the cost of parking. Students already struggle with everyday costs and usually need casual jobs to make ends meet. VU charges of $2 for two hours and $5 a day can build up across the week. An average 3 day uni week, will be $15.

$2 for 2 hours doesn’t help as most classes go for 2 hours, so to not risk getting a parking ticket of $60-$70 dollars, students are forced to spend $5 or further top up via online. And how many times have we let time run away from us due to the demands of lecturers and work load distractions. At the end of the day students come to university to learn not worry about parking offences.

A solution could be $1 an hour charge capped at $5 that would then last for the day. This way students who have a 2 hour class pay $3 for 3 hours, giving them enough time to complete their class, discuss any issues with their lecturers/class mates or even stay back a bit to complete some work, before casually making there way to their car - without fear of a ticket or having to run out of class 10 minutes early.

So lets hope VU consider student views and needs and we get parking that is both affordable and can meet full parking demands.