Although it might rub students the wrong way, neighborhoods surrounding the university have every right to ban student parking during school hours.
Such a measure wouldn’t be necessary if students would park legally and courteously on city streets.
Blocking driveways and mailboxes of residents in an effort to get to class on time is not behavior becoming of students.
Commuting students also have no choice but to obey such bans if they are properly passed through the city.
However, the sheer amount of students forced to park on the street belies a greater problem: TCU’s lack of adequate parking.
While the number of parking spots might not be an issue, most of those spots are situated far away from classrooms.
Traffic in the area surrounding TCU is unpredictable at best, often leaving commuting students rushing to get to their classes on time.
Having 7,500 parking spaces on campus is a misleading figure. While it may seem like a lot, when you consider that thousands lie on the periphery of the football stadium for game day parking, this makes a good parking space a hot commodity.
All of these interchangeable parking spaces that have to be vacated by students on game day shouldn’t count.
Also, students don’t have much of an incentive to park on campus when $75 parking fines are levied regularly.
Parking at TCU deserves a lot more attention than 50 spaces here and there. A parking garage near the classrooms would go a long way toward commuting woes.
Whatever the remedy, the campus, as well as the community surrounding it, deserves a large-scale solution.
News editor David Hall for the editorial board.