USC students break the law to get to class on time
Tue 27 March 2007
Claire Kelly, Journalism
Hundreds of students at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) are parking illegally at the Sippy Downs campus to make lectures on time.
A random on-campus survey conducted on Tuesday 27 February 2007 found over 225 student cars were parked in tow away areas, with a further 32 in areas not ‘officially’ designated as car parks.
Student Nerida Carson said the average time taken to find a legitimate park on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday was at least 11 minutes. An illegitimate park was estimated at about three minutes.
“I have been at this university for over three years now and as long as I can remember there have always been problems with parking. I am just glad that we don’t have to pay yet,” she said.
“Lots of my friends at other university campuses have to pay, and then walk ages, so I don’t think this campus is that bad,” Nerida said.
Illegal areas used by students included clearways in the car parks, verges, spaces between pathways and grass banks on both sides of the oval. Some students even parked near Sienna college and walked the distance to the university campus.
The large red and white ‘Tow Away Zone’ signs erected on the campus late last year do not appear to have had any impact at all, with students blatantly parking around them.
The parking situation is only set to get worse with the university recording a record number with over 5000 enrolments in 2007.
The University of the Sunshine Coast website reported that since its official opening in February 1996, with 524 students, numbers have increased substantially each year. Current students are worried the increasing numbers will put more pressure on the parking infrastructure, especially with the addition of the new sports stadium, research facility and hospital in the next few years.
To help curb the problem of traffic congestion at the campus the Queensland government introduced Translink, in 2004, to connect students from Brisbane to the coast after extensive lobbying by USC.
The University of the Sunshine Coast Annual 2004 Report said that this service was used by 230 students a day and “equated to around 150 fewer cars on campus”.
According to the report, a feasibility study for a Sippy Downs major bus interchange was also launched at this time. The report says that such an interchange could reduce the number of cars on campus by as much as 2500.
Queensland Transport was contacted about the interchange and its possible completion date in 2007 but no-one was available to comment.
In a recent column addressing the parking problems Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Thomas said that he would “…continue to negotiate to improve public transport and hasten the bus interchange."
“The more people park in a variety of illegal ways to avoid longer walks, the more likely we will have to move toward stricter parking arrangements and fines,” he said.
To help combat the current problem the Student Guild is starting a car pool register. Students have also been advised to take the bus more often.
Mark Bradley, the Director of Capital Programs and Operations, has also advised students that the university will review car parking in its Master Plan in a recent email.
Image(s) designed by Claire Kelly