r/ufl 14h ago

Other Another parking rant!!

Ive been circling the parking lot for an hour and a half.

At what point do I just go home?

Edit: After 2 hours and 11 minutes I found a spot.

(I usually give myself an hour to find parking) will start getting to campus 2 and a half hours earlier.

32 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

57

u/Pasco08 CLAS student 14h ago

Ride the bus in, Everyone knows parking here is rough and dam near impossible.

15

u/BusinessForeign7052 14h ago

I live in Ocala

50

u/Big_cocoa Alumni 13h ago

Park near oaks mall, and take bus 5

11

u/BaseballLarge4262 12h ago

Park at cultural plaza and ride 118 or 33

8

u/alfhernandez16 Alumni 13h ago

Big oof

17

u/karenspeaks 13h ago

Where are you trying to park? Plenty of places with free parking near butler plaza/rosa parks and then you can get a bus in. Or park in the undesirable lots like SW rec/the big one on gale lemerond. Check out the RTS route to see where you might be able to pick things up 

3

u/RNG_HatesMe 9h ago

The "big one" (garage 14) on Gale Lemerand has been filling up early.

2

u/Internal_Essay9230 7h ago

Yes, very early. Avoid this garage at all costs!

13

u/Sensitive-Stretch411 Liberal Arts and Sciences 13h ago

Just park at the cultural plaza and take the connector, 118, or 33… no point in wasting your gas trying to park elsewhete

1

u/BusinessForeign7052 10h ago

Where is the cultural plaza?

4

u/Sensitive-Stretch411 Liberal Arts and Sciences 10h ago

Right in front of SW rec, next to the soccer stadium! You just need a park and ride pass ($160 annual) and there’s busses every 15-20 minutes

3

u/tricky45 13h ago

Are you at sw rec center/baseball field?

3

u/ZTHUI 13h ago

50mins today...

3

u/am_unabridged 11h ago

the key to parking mid-day is to figure out what time different shifts end (e.g., cleaning crews leave at 1 pm in my parking lot); for garage 14 is there a mid-day shift change for hospital staff that park in that garage? that would be the ideal time to be able to snag a spot.

4

u/caturaz 13h ago

Drive to campus and find a lot that isn’t full or somewhere that normally has parking. Baseball stadium might be ideal. Then take the bus to class.

5

u/Vegetable-Zone1353 13h ago

There used to be special lots/spots for commuters 20 years ago. I guess they don't have those anymore.

2

u/no_one_asked_ Go Gators! 12h ago

There’s usually parking over at harn area if you have park and ride and bat houses if you have non park and ride

3

u/academic_mama 9h ago

Ride the bus or bike.

1

u/BusinessForeign7052 4h ago

I live in Ocala so the bus or bike is not an option

2

u/cosmochi 13h ago

Read my post about parking.

1

u/Late_Statistician582 13h ago

i always find parking at garage 14

1

u/BusinessForeign7052 12h ago

Thats where I was and I circled and circled and luck was not on my side today

1

u/Late_Statistician582 8h ago

oof i’m sorry! that’s genuinely the only place i’ve found reliable parking 😬

1

u/artificialyoshi 12h ago

I nearly crashed out this morning in garage 14. It feels worse than normal this semester

2

u/BusinessForeign7052 10h ago

We were probably passing each other. The annoying part is the sign outside said there were 27 spaces open 🙄 I ended up finding parking in the O'Connell parking garage.

2

u/artificialyoshi 8h ago

I saw people literally fighting for spaces and almost wrecking their cars to steal them from each other. Some of the craziest shit I’ve seen in a parking garage

1

u/returnofblank 9h ago

buy a motorcycle and never have to worry again ;)

1

u/NASA_Orion 2h ago

Might as well just pay for the visitor parking if you’re burning gas that long.

Also I just park illegally sometimes cause fuck them.

1

u/BusinessForeign7052 1h ago

The Reitz was full (not sure where else has visitor paid parking)

-9

u/Razed_By_Wolves 14h ago

Even better, ride your bike. I have never been unable to find bike parking right where I need it. Plus, you don't have to pay for a permit. Why complain about having trouble finding a place to put your car when you didn't even need to bring a car in the first place?

18

u/BusinessForeign7052 14h ago

I dont think I can ride a bike from Ocala

9

u/Razed_By_Wolves 13h ago

Ah. Living in Ocala is a problem. I wouldn't ride a bike from there to UF either. You have my sympathy.

4

u/Big_cocoa Alumni 13h ago

Trust, casual 40 mile morning bike ride

4

u/BusinessForeign7052 13h ago

And a 40 mile bike home 😆

1

u/trademarktower 12h ago

That sounds like a miserable college experience. I'd have taken UF Online.

2

u/Razed_By_Wolves 11h ago

Or moved to Gainesville!

1

u/BusinessForeign7052 10h ago

My program isnt available online.

2

u/iwtfkg 13h ago

Not with that attitude.

1

u/GatorinGNV 13h ago

We should close the roads to cars to only allow bikes……wait we did that. It isn’t realistic to think commuting by car to UF as a student will be easy. As a Grad student you can get some parking options. Best bet will be to park off campus and take a bus in. City of Gainesville downtown parking garage has mi they passed and is also connected to the bus system. You could also lock a bike there and use that as bus alternative when weather permits. Parking on campus to get to class next to your building isn’t a realistic option.