Every semester it̢۪s the same complaint. Whether it̢۪s an early weekday morning when you̢۪re running late to class or it̢۪s a late-evening traffic jam as you try to leave the Save Mart Center, parking is Fresno State̢۪s never-ending catastrophe.

One proposed idea to solve the school̢۪s parking problem has been to build a parking garage on campus. A garage on the northwest side of campus at parking lot Q or on the gargantuan Save Mart Center lot are both options that have been suggested.

Fresno State Associated Students President Juan Pablo Moncayo used the need for a parking garage as a key platform issue during the 2006 Associated Students Elections.

Moncayo was interviewed on the Fresno State weekly radio broadcast on April 21, 2006, about the need and possible addition of a parking garage due to the University̢۪s Campus Pointe development.

“We’re becoming a city and we’re becoming the center of Fresno. If we are going to become that parking central and continue to be a commuter campus, we need to invest in new parking,� Moncayo said.

Moncayo also said because the university doesn̢۪t have the funds required to add a parking garage on campus, the only current solution would be to increase fees.

“By law you can’t put any state funds into parking. It’s all paid for by fees, the majority of which are student fees and then part of it is faculty and staff,� he said.

Amy Armstrong, public information officer for the University Police Department, said fee increases to pay for a parking garage would require approval from both the student fee advisory committee and faculty union negotiators.

“The department has continually looked at it [parking garage] in the past, present and future,� Armstrong said. “We annually do traffic studies to discover ways to improve traffic and parking on campus.�

Out of the 11 CSU campuses with more than 20,000 students and employees, Fresno State̢۪s score ranked sixth in parking availability per students and faculty.

The addition of the Student Recreation Center and parking congestion during Save Mart Center events has increased several students̢۪ sentiments for a parking change.

“Everyone knows Fresno State is a commuter school and we need to invest in any parking upgrades we can to provide enough stalls,� senior engineering major Jeff Lindsay said. “I would be in favor of a parking garage if it was going to provide more stalls.�

While most students would probably prefer the addition of a multi-storied parking garage to ease parking and traffic congestion, they are not willing to pay the required fee increases that would be necessary to fund construction.

At only $68 per semester, Fresno State’s parking permit is one of the cheaper parking permits in the CSU system. San Jose State has three parking garages on campus — two five-story and one six-story — that in combination with its “park and ride� program provide students with more than 7,000 parking stalls.

However, at $192 per semester, San Jose State students pay three times more for parking than Fresno State students. An increase to more than $150 a semester for parking fees would probably be required to fund the construction of a parking garage on campus.

“I’d be willing to pay maybe an extra $10 a semester,� Lindsay said. “It’s a rip-off as it is. If they put an extra parking lot in they wouldn’t charge us, so why should we have to pay more for a parking garage.�

Sophomore fashion design major Kayla Sanchez said she doesn̢۪t run into parking problems often because she has night classes, but she said she has experienced the parking troubles firsthand.

“I’ve been around campus during busy parking times and we need any help we can get,� Sanchez said. “A parking garage would be good, but my biggest [concern] would be safety and security.�

Moncayo said it could be four or five years before a parking garage is added, but the plans are in the works.

“The parking garage is going to come. Everyone’s talking about it now,� Moncayo said. “It’s just a matter of time.�