To UF parking,
I hate you.
And here's the thing. I understand that this is a big university and it is unreasonable to try and create a parking space for every student, faculty member, and guests, however, being a top ten university, you would think that you would have figured out a better system of basic transportation needs.
To give you perspective, I am an acting major with a minor in mass communications that has acting classes at 8:30 a.m. and media classes until 7:00 p.m. with production rehearsals that can last up until 10:30 p.m. as well as a 10 hour work week for an on-campus internship that is unpaid. That means I can spend well over 12 hours of my day here and not have access to my car to get home, get food, or leave due to an emergency.
Your solution is to tell me to use the bus. But unfortunately, the bus to my apartment only offers one bus every 45 mins after 7:00 p.m. and stops running after 9:00 p.m., which leaves me stranded with you until I have to beg my friends to pick me up. Your next solution is to tell me to pay for 45-minute parking, two-hour parking, or all day parking at the Reitz Union. But unfortunately, most of the spots you offer are blocked off or reserved by events that aren't even catered to the majority of the students. Your next solution is to tell me to buy decal parking. But UNFORTUNATELY, the only decal parking offered to off-campus students is a parking lot that is still a 30-minute bus ride to my class and also runs irregularly. And even if I bought the decal, you over-sell your decals when there aren't enough parking spaces so the chances of even getting a parking spot is slim to none.
Plus, let us not forget that we are all college students that barely have enough money to get by and cannot even afford the ridiculous price to purchase decal parking. Even a week-long pass is set to an outrageous price. It would make more sense to Uber/Lyft to school every day than use the transportation offered by you, which is not only sad but very much disappointing.
Don't get me wrong. This is a great school and a lot of the things you're doing are great. But in terms of safely and effectively transporting your students and faculty, you need to WAKE UP.
