Vroom — irrrrrkkkcch! — Finally I found a parking spot. Not only did I have to sell my left arm to to buy a permit but also, I had to drive all day long looking for this damn spot.

I wonder why I had to pay so much for this parking spot? Is parking really that bad?

I hate parking on campus. Costs have gotten way out hand; costs that don’t even guarantee a spot to park. It feels more like buying a hunting license as opposed to a parking permit. “You now officially have the right to go gunning for parking.”

To make matters worse fees keep getting higher. As prices are going up so is the number of people buying permits.

Supply remains low and demand goes up. This is elementary economics. You cannot have high demand and expect low prices. The reason that prices are so high is simply because everyone is driving to Sacramento State. Other campuses are not having this problem. Even California State Universities in Long Beach and Monterey Bay have managed to keep their costs down. There are two ways to do this.

First, they could increase the supply of parking spots. At the two other schools mentioned this is not an easy solution, considering land prices in these urban areas.

Second, they could decrease demand. This must be where those other colleges have succeeded and where we have failed.

Our one option in this urban location: Decrease demand.

Drivers should just think of it as a luxury tax. There are many ways to get to school that are not only more fuel-efficient but also better for the environment.

Sac State operates its own free bus system and provides free access to Regional Transit busses that will virtually take you anywhere you want to be in Sacramento. This system could be a whole lot faster than searching for parking every day.

If buses don’t excite you, try a bicycle. Often the same people complaining about being obese are the same people driving a mile to campus and circling the lot for 40 minutes when they could be walking or biking during that time and getting the exercise.

If you are afraid of exercise and buses, perhaps you could try to carpool to campus. Not only will this save on gas but carpool permits grant access to primo parking spots.

Any of the above you will take the stress off the parking at Sac State and drive down demand. Macroeconomics states as law, this will in turn drive down costs. Next time you start to complain that it took you too long to find a parking spot or that costs are too high realize the only person you have to blame is yourself.

Change your habits and and cut demand for parking spots. You will see the cost of parking on campus plummet and I might actually find a parking space on campus.

Relate to Taylor’s parking pains?

E-mail him at[email protected]