"I've considered transferring" - TUS student on car park 'hell'

By Rebekah O'Reilly

A first-year student at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) in Athlone says she has considered leaving the university because of what she describes as a daily battle to find parking on the Athlone campus.

For Clare native Zoe Minogue, a first-year student in the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) in Athlone, the situation is so severe that she has even considered transferring colleges despite having only started at the Midlands university campus in September.

Zoe, who is renting on the outskirts of Athlone, has described the campus car parking in the Athlone university as a “kind of hell”.

“My commute should just be a 16-minute drive, according to Google Maps, but it was taking me over an hour to get into college with traffic. I have to wake up at half six, because if I leave by half seven, it’s only about a 20-minute drive. Before that, I would leave about 8, thinking it was a 20-minute drive, but I wouldn’t get there until after 9. Then I’d spend hours looking for parking.

“I’ve spent so many mornings just being totally, utterly frustrated and feeling defeated because I’m trying to learn and I want to go to class on time, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to come in late because I simply cannot find parking. It definitely has made my beginning to college much more deflated, it has been such a nightmare. I was even considering transferring, because I don’t know that I can continue going on like this for the next three years, every single morning battling to get a parking space.”

Parking at some TUS Athlone facilities costs €5.40 per day, while students can also purchase an annual parking permit for €20 for a number of parking spaces on campus. The permit permits parking in either student designated or shared student-staff car parks. These are limited in number and having a permit does not guarantee a parking space for the permit holder.

In a statement given to the Westmeath Independent, TUS said it is aware of “the pressures on car parking” at its Athlone campus, particularly during peak arrival times.

"A range of parking options is available to students, and the majority of spaces are permit parking, for which students pay an annual permit fee of €20. The University has also taken steps to alleviate pressure on campus by securing additional dedicated student parking at nearby Garrycastle GAA Club and Willow Park Soccer Club. No permit or parking charge applies at these additional facilities."

Zoe says the main issue is that there simply aren't enough spaces to accommodate the student population, a problem which the spokesperson also acknowledged as a challenge.

The parking situation on campus has worsened in recent times, as the new Mary Ward Building has taken the place of a former car park.

“Parking fills up by 8am Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, maybe quarter past 8 on Thursdays and Fridays," Zoe said.

"Friday’s okay to find parking in the morning because there aren’t as many people in. Monday morning is a kind of hell. If you don’t get in there by 8, you’re not going to get parking.”

Clamping is another huge issue on campus, with APCOA operating the parking enforcement system. Zoe noted that even during orientation week, students who were yet to familiarise themselves with the campus were getting clamped and ticketed.

“If you went on a Monday morning, you’d see the amount of cars that are parked on yellow double lines, on islands, and in places they shouldn’t be parked. They just don’t have a choice because there’s nowhere else to park, and then they’re getting clamped as a result.”

Under TUS’s parking regulations, the clamp release fee is €50, with a surcharge of €100 applying for each day the fee remains unpaid after the date of clamping.

Zoe has been in talks with the Students’ Union in TUS Athlone in relation to the issue, and hopes that with enough support, she will be able to make a change.

“This has been an ongoing issue for the Students’ Union as well, and they’ve had a lot of complaints throughout the years. They’re working with me, what we’re trying to do at the moment is build a case. If we can show that there’s a big amount of people that this is affecting, get personal stories from people, then we can bring it to the people above.

“They have brought it to them so many times before, there have been walkouts previously, and nothing is done. They just say it’s not affecting enough people or it’s not a priority.”

When asked what she would like to see change on campus, Zoe said the “dream scenario” would be reduced parking fees, and an expansion of car parking facilities.

“I understand that space is an issue, but that is something that they need to work on. They have the funds, because they have built a whole new science building, this needs to be a priority then as well.

“It would be great to get free parking, or a very small parking fee. There should be no clamping or no ticketing on the campus. Every day that you don’t pay your clamp fee, the price gets higher. We cannot afford it, we’re all barely scraping by. We’re all just broke, and trying to get our education.”

Zoe added that the battle for students to find a parking space before even starting their day in college is “a waste of money, and a waste of time”.

“It shouldn’t be happening. It’s really expensive to get your education. The last thing you need to be worrying about is if you can even find a place to park. It shouldn’t even be a list, you should be worried about actually learning and studying.”