Editor,
After my experience trying to find a parking spot in Q Lot on Tuesday, I find that some of the remarks in that day's Daily Lobo article about the South Lot shuttle situation need to be addressed.
Regarding the situation with the South Lot shuttle, I have heard that some of my friends have had trouble with it. I will not remark further on the subject, however, since I have no firsthand experience.
The major objection that I have is to Karen Wentworth's remark that the Parking and Transportation Services Department doesn't oversell parking permits, but rather sells them to maintain 95 percent occupancy.
I believe that anyone I saw trying to park in Q Lot on Tuesday at around noon would agree that Q Lot is unequivocally oversold.
I, for one, was burning my $2.699 per gallon gas around the lot for at least 20 minutes before I managed to find a spot whose former occupant had just seconds earlier vacated it.
Indeed, I saw numerous other drivers circling like vultures in hopes of finding a parking spot before it was too late to get to class on time.
This has created a situation where - at best - Parking and Transportation Services Department customers are not receiving the product they paid an unprecedented $76 for.
At worst, the safety of customers is threatened by the culture of impatient, anxious drivers on the same turf with pedestrians and other impatient, anxious drivers.
To add insult to injury, as I passed G Lot - the lot I wanted the permit for in the first place, but it was quickly sold out - in the shuttle on the way to class I saw that a relatively large segment of its spots were vacant.
While I do appreciate the fact that Parking and Transportation Services Department director Clovis Acosta gave out his cell phone number to the Daily Lobo reporter for those waiting 30 minutes for the South Lot shuttle, given my experience Tuesday, I am forced to question how well the situation in the commuter lots is being handled.
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Michael Gradoville
UNM student
