Transportation and parking are becoming increasingly difficult here at NC State. If the community continues to expand, so should the space.
Ten years ago, the 2013-2014 school year had 4,159 “full-time first-year (freshmen) students enrolled.” Fast forward to the 2023-2024 school year, there are 5,636 first-year students enrolled, a 35.5 percent increase in the past ten years.
The current Fall 2024 semester has over 7,200 first-year and transfer students enrolled according to the official NC State Instagram page.
With such a large increase in student enrollment, the university should provide more space for housing and parking. But the University has not opened any new residence halls since August 2013 when they first opened the Wolf Ridge apartments on Centennial campus.
I have encountered many instances where I needed to pay to park on either Hillsborough Street or at the public pay lots on campus since it has been rather difficult to get a parking permit. Even when I did get off the waitlist, it ends up being too much money that I cannot afford on top of all the other expenses needed to attend this school.
Many students including myself, on the free park and ride lots to get to classes. So far out of the three weeks in the semester, there have been five different times that the Spring Hill lot has been full. I have seen countless cars with parking tickets because the lot was full and they had to park along the curb and in unmarked spaces.
I have been bending over backwards trying to ensure that I have a way of getting to campus as well as being on time for my classes. I have already missed two classes so far due to a lack of parking spaces. But I am not the only person faced with this parking issue.
During the second week of the semester, I conducted a survey covering the topics of parking and overcrowding. One of the questions asked, “Has the overcrowding and/or lack of parking spaces (anywhere) made it difficult or impossible to get to your class?” An overwhelming 77.9 percent of people stated yes in some manner.
I asked one short answer question, “Are there any other issues you’ve experienced so far due to overcrowding or lack of parking spaces?” one student had some things to say about parking writing, “To elaborate I have parked at Spring Hill once and I have had to pay for parking EVERYDAY just to attend classes. I’m out about 20 bucks just from the past week and two days. It’s even hard parking on Hillsborough because there is almost no parking.”
Data from the Fall 2023 semester shows the overall student enrollment, plus staff and faculty at a total of 48,480 individuals according to the University Data and Analytics – Fast Facts.
A Technician article states that in Fall 2021, there were just under 45,000 students, faculty, and staff with only around 20,000 available parking spots. It also doesn’t take visitors into account. This leaves over half of the total number of students, faculty and staff without a spot to park.
Although the lack of parking spaces has made it increasingly difficult to arrive to classes on time, or even at all, it’s not the only reason. There are currently 11 Wolfline bus routes with around two to four buses each at peak hours. It’s not enough. You have almost 50,000 people who attend and/or work at NC State and there are only 11 different bus routes. With such a large and hilly campus, it can be difficult to get around only on foot.
In my survey, I asked, “Have you had to wait longer for WolfLine buses due to full capacity or any other reason?” 59.7 percent answered yes, 17.9 percent answered sometimes and only 22.4 percent answered no. Whenever I wait at the bus stop, more often than not some of the more popular routes (usually 41) will be at maximum capacity with the “drop off only” sign.
“Parking is impossible, housing is overflowing and it’s causing apartment complexes everywhere around campus to hike their prices, traffic is insane, classes are in random places (there is a Spanish and German class in one of my labs that contains expensive equipment that can get easily damaged or samples be contaminated) it’s super frustrating overall because the administration doesn’t listen to anyone, especially professors. this has had a trickle-down effect on students. I personally believe that freshmen shouldn’t even be allowed to park on campus if they are required to live on campus,” one student wrote.
This student covered some major points that have made attending NCSU more difficult. It has been so insanely frustrating and expensive trying to find a place to live every school year. My personal experiences with housing and rent have been exhausting. When comparing the rent from my time living at one of the nearby apartments to what it is now, there is about a $50-100 increase.
Our growing population has caused limited parking, pricey housing and even difficulty navigating campus. As a student, I would like the University to expand parking, ensure affordable housing and hire more drivers to improve Wolfline services. Students will only struggle more if these issues are not properly addressed.
