Parking services knows more than anyone why people have an issue with campus parking. They hear the complaints that students aren’t about to spend the money to not have a guaranteed spot and they listen when students, faculty, staff and community members urge them to develop more parking spaces. However, there is only so much that parking services can do to cater to those who legally purchase parking passes when people chose to park on campus illegally.

We attend school alongside 25,000 other students. Realistically, GVSU cannot provide parking spots for 25,000 students plus faculty, staff and visitors. That’s the reason we have parking passes for purchase in the first place. It is not reasonable to complain about parking and then blatantly chose to park illegally. There is no way for parking services to account for the number of people that will park illegally and then apply that to their legal parking pass sales.

Additionally, the bus system at GVSU is free to all students. Though we understand that not everyone has immediate access to a bus route, parking services has worked with the community to provide parking lots along Rapid routes where students can leave their cars and bus to campus. Not only do these commuter lots provide a financially friendly way to drive your car without having to purchase a pass, but an increase in people taking the bus to campus means a more environmentally friendly campus atmosphere.

The university has also charged for parking for years. They know the tricks and they’ve seen it all. Yes, maybe you’ll get away with a faux pass for a week or even a month if you’re lucky, but, looking at it logically, you are going to get caught eventually. When you inevitably get caught, you are going to have to face steep charges as well as possible legal implications. No matter how good you are at Photoshop, is it really worth the long-term consequences?

Though GVSU is primarily an academic institution, it is also a community. We have rules in place to protect students and maintain order within the different sanctions of the university. We owe it to our community to respect the rules in place, especially when the institution enforcing them is working with us to find positive solutions.

Sure, we all want to save a couple hundred dollars, because let’s face it, as college students it is likely we do not all have money to toss around for parking. There are many solutions to make the campus commute easier like taking the bus, walking or even carpooling with friends, but illegally parking should not be one of them. In the long run, it would save you more time and money to avoid legal charges and parking tickets by straying away from illegal parking.