Contrary to popular belief, ULM’s campus does not suffer from parking shortages.

Over winter break, ULM made minor changes to the parking lots around campus to provide residents with parking spaces close to the library. These changes sparked outrage amongst the commuters at ULM.

Students complained on YikYak and Snapchat that ULM needs more parking spaces for commuters and faculty.

“You could be on campus 30 minutes before class and still be late because you can’t find parking,” one person wrote on YikYak.

“Taking away resident parking spaces to give out more tickets to residents to get more money,” another Yik Yaker said.

The chief complaints that resulted from the changes were the lack of parking and the increasing parking tickets around academic buildings.

“The ‘any permit after 2:00 p.m.’ signs were changed because students continuously complained about getting tickets when parking in faculty zones after 2:00 p.m.,” Casey Baker, Police Lieutenant-A at the University Police Department, said. “The lot being open to any permit did not override the fact that the lots also had faculty staff parking.”

Baker states that ULM has a total of 5953 parking spaces. Only about 82% of the parking spaces are used by commuters, residents and faculty.

There are 3191 parking spaces reserved for commuters, and approximately 77% are actively in use. This leaves 738 unused parking spots for those who drive to campus daily.

Every dorm on campus combines to make 1547 spaces total in their parking lots. About 83% of permits are currently used by residents, leaving 256 spots open.

Faculty and staff are left with the fewest parking spaces at 1215. About 92% of faculty parking spots are in use at this time.

The location of commuter parking spaces may not be ideal because only a few spots are near academic buildings, causing students to have to walk a fair distance to their classes. However, it is nothing compared to schools such as Louisiana State University and the University of Louisiana Lafayette because of their high enrollment rates.

On these campuses, there is a much larger distance between the lots where commuters can park their cars and where their academic buildings are. 30-minute or longer walks are a daily occurrence at these universities.

While there may be an opinion that ULM lacks parking spaces for its students and faculty, ULM does provide adequate parking for everyone. Just because there is a lack of “ideal” parking on campus doesn’t mean that there is no parking.