In the midst of searching for parking on the first day of school, Josko Lucin said he felt his eyes getting heavy right before he plowed into three parked cars.
Lucin just finished working the graveyard shift when he headed to SF State for class and fell asleep behind the wheel.
Being tired and stressed out is the status quo for most students, but add a car to the situation and things can become ugly.
In the past 10 days there have been 10 car accidents within the vicinity of the SF State campus.
Early morning traffic jams for parking start forming on Holloway Avenue, where a University Police Department officer is usually directing traffic. Cars also snarl Brotherhood Way at the same time.
"The first two weeks are rough, but it usually lightens up," Sgt. Trobaugh of the UPD, said. "I'm starting to wonder about this year, though."
Most mornings it takes an average of 20 minutes to get into Lot 20, the parking garage behind the resident apartments. Competition for parking spaces is especially high between 8 and 9 a.m.
Students are used to maneuvering through the maze of traffic circles on the streets around Park Merced. But the back-to-school crunch on campus parking has everybody driving in circles.
"I drove around for 25 minutes going in circles," SF State junior Ryan Klassen said. "There were so many misused spaces - people parked crooked or took up two spots - that was frustrating."
Ultimately, Klassen found parking in Lot 25, off Winston Avenue. He got one of the last spots at 9:25 a.m.
Parking on 19th Avenue isn't possible after 7 a.m. and Junipero Serra is full by 8 a.m. Although it can be a hike, he said the next best spot is Lot 25.
"Parking has been fine and the shuttle is great," Erin Boo-ya said. "I laugh at all the traffic I pass while I'm sitting in the shuttle."
A free shuttle service from off-campus lots runs every 15 minutes to drop students off near SF State. Lot 25 is open Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 10p.m. and Friday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and costs $2 per day or $81 per semester.
Some students said that they feel the school is selling too many permits and there aren't enough spaces.
To help with the jam, a temporary overflow lot is set up near the Lake Merced and Sunset Boulevard from Aug. 28 to Sept. 6.
Some students don't mind the distance from the lot to school.
"I like parking way down here," Michelle Acks said. "I wish I could do it all the time, this way I get in 20 minutes of walking exercise."
The Lake Merced lot is free. A shuttle runs from the lot to campus every 15 minutes from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
By 9:15 a.m., when the lots and garages are full, commuters start circling the Lake Merced area for parking. Most agreed, whether they found parking or not, something has to be done about the parking shortage.
"You can do like I did," Lance Gomez said. "You can always sell your car."
[ Golden Gater Online September 5, 1996 ]
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