KENNESAW, Ga. -- Kennesaw State University students say they’re battling parking problems on campus.
Several students reached out to 11Alive News, complaining that in some garages, either they can't get their hands on a permit or they're having real trouble finding a parking spot.
KSU senior Robby Thrash recorded his Monday morning attempt to find a spot in his assigned campus parking garage. From the time Thrash enters the garage to when he finds a spot? – 26 minutes and 46 seconds.
“I’d say that’s about average,” he said. “Sometimes it's even more than that."
But Thrash isn’t alone. Mark Mosley also reached out, frustrated with parking on KSU’s campus.
"Even two years ago, it was packed before the merger, and no additional spaces have been added since then," he said.
Mosley is talking about the additional students brought on by the KSU-Southern Polytechnic merger.
Now, he said parking permits are even harder to come by, as are open spaces.
So, 11Alive’s Chris Hopper reached took those concerns directly to the administration. KSU officials did not agree to an on-camera interview, but they did answer some questions through email.
According to school officials, KSU has roughly 35,000 students and of those, 22,000 have parking permits. There are just over 14,000 open parking spaces on campus, but KSU said that number is what it is because students do not stay in spaces all day.
If students can't find a place to park on campus, the schools said they should park at an off campus lot and take a shuttle in.
But that’s not the only parking gripe Thrash had. There is also a $93 parking fee on student’s tuition bill every semester, whether they drive or park on campus or not, it's there. If you do want to park on campus, students have to hand over another $26 dollars a semester. KSU said that's for debt, repair, and maintenance on the five parking decks.
KSU said it usually gets complaints the first couple weeks of school, but said they've already decreased this week.
Meanwhile, Thrash just hopes students and officials are able to find common ground: "I really hope they look at the numbers and maybe next semester they might cut back on the amount of spots they give out in the decks."
