Throughout campus, people can be seen on scooters, skateboards and bicycles heading to their class. But for bicycle riders at Fresno State, available parking has become an ongoing issue.

With approximately 20,000 students this semester and 5,194 car parking spaces as of 2009, many students seek out other methods of transportation, bicycles being among the most popular alternatives.

“Riding a bike used to be a lot more convenient for me, and not to mention cheaper,” said Karen Ard, a public health major at Fresno State. “Now I even have a problem finding a place to park my bike.”

Ard said she thinks more students ride their bikes because of the tuition increases. Ard said a student’s budget isn’t as big as it used to be.

“Many students want to save money by riding their bikes, but the school needs to do something to meet the demand of these students,” Ard said. “It’s really annoying when I can’t find a spot for my bike and I have to park it some other place on campus, usually not where my class is.”

Ard is not alone in her frustrations with the lack of parking for bicycles. Jennifer Wright, a business entrepreneurship major, said she rides her bike to class four times a week because it’s cheaper and she enjoys helping the environment.

“Bike parking never used to be a problem, but now it is, especially at the recreation center,” Wright said. “ When I can’t find a rack to park my bike, I usually find a pole or fence, but then I found out about the bike parking policy.”

Wright said she saw parking enforcement officers leave tags on different bikes that said: “bikes may be impounded or ticketed for failure to park on a bike rack.”

Wright feels the policy is unfair.

“The school should invest in more bike racks, and until then stop penalizing those who cannot find a parking place for their bike. We don’t have all the time in the world between classes so its not like we can go biking around campus looking for more racks.”

Gary Wilson, senior director of Facilities Management, said the university is considering placing new bike racks between the University Center and the Madden Library in an effort to improve the University Center building itself and it’s surroundings. Wilson acknowledged that more bike racks are consistently in demand.

Renee Schantin, a sports marketing major, said she usually has no problem finding an open spot on a bike rack when she rides her bike to class.

“I have only had to park my bike on a pole or fence when I go to the Student Recreational Center,” Schantin said.

Schantin said she was unaware of the policy forbidding parking bikes on fences or poles and considers herself lucky to have not gotten a ticket or her bike impounded.

“I understand the policy because they don’t want a bunch of bikes just parked everywhere, but they should have more bike racks and fix the ones that are broken because half of the available ones can’t be used,” Schantin said.

The information regarding the policy is available on the traffic operations website under Bike Laws, Safety and Code of Ethics.