How University of Tennessee students would fix 'nightmarish' parking on Knoxville campus

Parking is tough at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. It's not uncommon for commuting students to drive around for over 20 minutes, only to book it to class.

But this year has felt different, according to current UT students. It hasn't just been bad in the first week, but consistently rough since the semester started, six students told Knox News.

There's lots of competition. There are 19,883 campus parking spaces, according to UT Parking. Commuters, non-commuters and staff have purchased 23,735 parking permits.

Knox News recently tested whether walking or driving to campus was faster. We recommend avoiding bringing your car on campus if it isn't first thing in the morning.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

How has parking been at the University of Tennessee this semester, and how has it affected you?

Anthony Curling, senior, psychology major, commutes from Maryville: My first semester was in 2018, which I came for two years, took two years off and then came back. This semester has been by far the worst that I've seen so far. For instance, last year I had 8 a.m. courses that I would come for every day. I had an easier time finding parking then than I do now for my my 9-9:30 a.m. courses. … It's been just really, really insane to find parking, and how it's affected me is I'm having to wake up and come to school like an hour and a half early, which I don't even consider 9-9:30 a.m. to be that late in the day to be having to do that.

Bethany Cheatham, graduate student in public policy and administration, commutes from North Knoxville: Pretty bad. I missed a doctor's appointment in the Student Health Center because I couldn't find a parking space in the parking garage there just a couple of weeks ago. I ended up hitting a parked car. More my own fault.

Mikayla Miles, double major in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology and pre-med, commutes from West Knoxville: I park over at Publix every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and walk to Buhler. Luckily, I have an early morning at 8 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I can get a parking spot on those days. Other than an early 7:30 a.m., you're not gonna get a spot.

Andrew Kingsolver, junior, global studies major, commutes from Rhea County: I've been really fortunate. My church has the institute building on Clinch (Avenue) and I've been able to park there, so it hasn't affected me personally. But I know the first couple of weeks of this semester, you couldn't walk by without overhearing a conversation about someone complaining about parking. I have a classmate, one of the days it was raining, she came in soaked at the end of class, because she spent all that hour looking for a parking spot.

Aidan Mannella, sophomore, undecided, commutes from West Knoxville: It's abysmal. That's a bit dramatic, but I guess not fun, so to speak … I've gotten towed once already, which was fun. I'm finding new solutions to it, but it's not fun at all. I don't know what they should do, maybe they should bolster the public transit system.

Rachel Mekdeci, junior, English education, commutes from Bearden Hill: Nightmarish is the best word for it. I started here in 2019 and I remember I could park in Stokely after 10 a.m. no problem. … Parking really started to get bad about two years ago, but this year has been exorbitant. … Those economy lots will not solve the problem because in theory, great idea. You have to take a bus, but you can pay less money. Phenomenal idea. But when your bus system is this unreliable and you're still ending up late to class anyway, who's paying for that?

What has been the worst time and place to try to park on campus?

Curling: I would say the worst time and place is in the center of campus. So Stokely Parking Garage, some of the open commuter lots over there, Neyland G10 does get pretty backed up … maybe past 10 or 11 a.m. now.

Cheatham: Anywhere on campus after I would say 8 a.m. in the morning. Doesn't matter where you are.

Kingsolver: I think the worst time is probably in the morning when most people are starting their classes. I don't think there is a good place to park on campus.

Mannella: That's at roughly 8:30-9:15 a.m. at the parking garage on Cumberland Avenue and (Eleventh Street). That garage during the morning is the worst. There will be a line of 10 cars. It's crazy.

Mekdeci: Anything after 8 a.m. You better be showing up to campus at 7:30 a.m. I get here at 7:15 a.m. for a 10:20 a.m. class. That is the only way you can find parking.

What's been your best trick in finding a parking space?

Curling: Wake up early, grab an extra cup of coffee, get here early and just find somewhere to study for an hour or two or however long until your classes start. If not that, then just drive around and hope or pray or whatever that you get lucky, which may not work out.

Kingsolver: I know for a lot of other people, the recommendation is always come here early. But you can only get here so early.

Miles: I honestly just park down (by Publix) so I don't have to look all day. It's got commuter and then non-commuters. It's a gravel lot.

Mannella: First, I'll say what not to do: don't park in a place that's not clearly defined as a tow away zone or not. ... Getting your car towed is not fun, so don't do it. I suggest parking at the research center across the river. Park there, wait for the shuttle.

How would you try to fix parking on campus at the University of Tennessee?

Curling: Build more garages or don't admit as many students so that you don't have more vehicles than you have spots. But in terms of now, … don't make the parking passes so expensive. If parking were free, that'd be one thing, but it's not. It's like $200 depending on whether you're a commuter or noncommuter, motorcycle or whatever else. I had to pay close to $200 for my parking pass, which I think is ridiculous for what I'm getting this year.

Kingsolver: Honestly, it's not just going to be a University of Tennessee issue, it's also a city of Knoxville issue and a state of Tennessee issue. Because you have this huge amount of growth, you've had huge increases in the amount of people enrolled at UT. A lot of the parking I've noticed is that they only have a couple of parking garages and a lot of the other commuter parking spots are just single level. They're probably going to need to build some more parking garages. The city and the state need to find a way to help make it easier to use public transportation and get it where it's a more viable option. One of the reasons we're seeing a parking issue is because it's so expensive to live on campus or close to campus that you have to live elsewhere. I live in Rhea County and I leave my house like two hours before my class starts, so I'm already budgeting so much time to get here that I can't really leave any earlier.

Mannella: I think that the city of Knoxville as a whole — because the university is so important to it — could harmonize more with UT, as in like making spots better, less tow away zones, etc. With the same point, I think getting a student parking pass for the city would be good. It's not an end-all-be-all solution. I'm not a fan of mass car transportation anyway. But I know that in New York City for instance, students have a specific pass to take the subway. If we did that with parking, that could help solve it, because I've been to Market Square Garage in the morning and it's fairly empty.

Mekdeci: Some ticket forgiveness would be great. I would go as far as to say lowering the price of permits, which I know would probably get more people to buy them, but at the same time I'm paying $200 as a commuter to just not park somewhere and get ticketed for it. It's beyond frustrating. ... Students are talking about a protest of some kind. I couldn't tell you exactly how that would work.

Keenan Thomas is a higher education reporter. Email [email protected]. Twitter @specialk2real.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: University of Tennessee students navigate parking in Knoxville