From revenge to constructive criticism

There is a fine line between frustration and blinding, unreasonable rage. It is a dangerous path to tread and one that often leads to nasty consequences when crossed. We are not about nasty consequences here, merely we aim to highlight selfish parking and make those, for lack of a better word, offenders aware of their deeds! This all sounds a bit sinister I know but really it is about informing the public of how much more parking room can be created by a simple act such as using all the curb space.

In Revenge of the Selfless Parkers we saw some of the things people do when they see selfish parking. However, there are alternatives which you can use immediately such as chalking out spots before cars arrive, measured spots that will accommodate all vehicles to indicate that that space is the preferred spot for parking in an attempt to get local council to recognise this as a legitimate fix and create permanent marked spots. Clearly offenders are not actual offenders and we have no power to prosecute them, nor should we want to, but such an act may help to enlighten them as to their misdoings.

A novel concept perhaps, but a group of people chalking the streets of Randwick, now that is sure to get noticed. How could anyone ignore a group of people chalking the ground? Chalk wears off in the rain; I do not wish to propose graffiti or permanent damage. This is not a harmful campaign and cause but a simple one on awareness.

Alternatively, perhaps a standard print-out form that can be left on people’s windscreens, (we chose to avoid the ones already out there as they are generally quite offensive and have violent connotations which we do not encourage!) highlighting the problems with parking could be used to highlight to people that what they are doing is not OK! Wasting space, wasting time and increasing frustration. It is all unnecessary. Why don’t we get people out there? It’s all about awareness people and it starts with you.

Would you shame selfish parkers in this way? And would you be willing to mark out spots where people can park correctly?

If so head over to our Facebook page (see link to the left) and leave a comment with your suggestion, tweet us or even leave us a comment here at WordPress! The more people we can get on this cause the sooner we can eradicate selfish parking. Besides, chalk is fun. Who doesn’t want to chalk the pavement?

Parking woes know no boundaries

In 2011 IBM published a survey outlining some of the common woes faced by drivers across the globe. It identified a number of issues associated with driving including the frustration of parking, particularly in big cities and highly populated areas; areas similar to UNSW. It outlined that 30% of traffic congestion is from drivers attempting to park their car and that the flow on effects of this are horrendous during the peak hours of commuting.

One of the most interesting points made in the article is, “Over half of all drivers in 16 of the 20 cities surveyed reported that they have been frustrated enough that they gave up looking for a parking space and simply drove somewhere else.” Have you ever tried to park at UNSW and given up? Preferring instead to park a number of kilometres away and walk or even catch a bus to uni from there?

The report also indicated that 1 in 4 drivers have had arguments with other drivers over parking spaces, the average time for finding a parking spot was 20 minutes and that in some cities drivers never reached their destination because they could not find a parking space.

This is a situation which many commuters to UNSW deal with every day. The inability to find a spot, unrestricted and within walking distance to the university is compounded when parkers take up more space than necessary on the curb and only cars that look like this can park.

 

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/14_people_in_a_smart_car/

 

The results of this survey clearly show that across the world, not just at UNSW, parking is a serious frustration which can lead to emotional stress and not to mention make students and teachers alike constantly late for university lectures and classes. If we can fix the one simple problem of having marked parking bays so that unnecessary stresses are removed, maybe we can help brighten people’s day just a little bit!

 

For more information and to check out the full survey report, please visit here

 

Revenge of the selfless parkers

Parking is frustrating at the best of times, but missing spots because of bad parking is like the straw that broke the camels back when you’re running late in the morning. Here is an example of what can happen when someone encounters a selfish parker yet is armed with chalk.

Another person suffering from the same frustration is Brooklyn resident, Abby Welsman who campaigned for a parking education scheme in Fort Greene. More information on his efforts can be found here http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/28/31_28_ml_parking_guy.html

And to top it all off, this app from Russia shames selfish parkers on social media using photos of car number plates and inserting them into pop-ups on websites. The pop-ups are targeted at computer users in the selfish parkers local area and must be shared on Facebook before the pop-up will go away. Although it brings to mind a number of questions about identity and safety issues when publishing someone’s number plate online, a similar system around UNSW could help to encourage parkers to park properly and leave the stress out of parking for others. Well, at least remove unnecessary stress because we all know that parking at uni is never going to be completely stress free!

Watch the video here at carsguide.com.au