1. 3 UF Students
2. Customers choose their way of getting around campus from a list of alternatives other than driving their cars. Many students drive scooters, some ride bikes or skateboards, some walk and some ride the bus. For many people, the price is a huge factor in choosing what they are going to do. Importance in my sector is based on convenience and time. As college students constantly on the go, they need something that is going to be fast as well as close to where they need to be. Easy access is key to the expansion of parking.
3. Customers in my segment are more likely to purchase the new parking passes online. There would also be an option to purchase at a location on campus, but many people will purchase online and wait for the decal in the mail. Since the purchase will not be as expensive as other college needs, students will most likely not finance this purchase.
4. What matters to the customer is that they will more often than not find a parking spot. If the student purchases the parking pass after the expansion and still cannot find spots across campus, then the purchase would not have been worth it.
5. I interviewed 2 sophomore students and one senior student at UF. All of these students live off campus. 1 sophomore said they did not bring their car to school, because not only is parking bad at UF, but also in Gainesville. The other sophomore said he has his car, but he rarely moves it in fear of losing his parking spot. He recently bought a scooter so he can commute to his classes, which are far from his apartment. The senior has had a scooter since her freshman year at UF. She joined a sorority that very far from her dorm room and needed an easier way to get to it for meals and meetings. She has used it every since to get around camups. The senior now pays a very high amount per month to park her car at her apartment complex. All of these students agreed that parking is an issue at UF. They suggested expanding garages, which I told them was my goal. They said they hope that by expanding the parking, the cost for passes would go down and provide better access to campus for students.
6. From these interviews, I was able to see that students have a need for more parking, but they do not want the price for passes to go up. If anything they want them to go down or stay the same. I think this is something that I could work out in my business plan, as long as enough people buy parking passes.
5. I interviewed 2 sophomore students and one senior student at UF. All of these students live off campus. 1 sophomore said they did not bring their car to school, because not only is parking bad at UF, but also in Gainesville. The other sophomore said he has his car, but he rarely moves it in fear of losing his parking spot. He recently bought a scooter so he can commute to his classes, which are far from his apartment. The senior has had a scooter since her freshman year at UF. She joined a sorority that very far from her dorm room and needed an easier way to get to it for meals and meetings. She has used it every since to get around camups. The senior now pays a very high amount per month to park her car at her apartment complex. All of these students agreed that parking is an issue at UF. They suggested expanding garages, which I told them was my goal. They said they hope that by expanding the parking, the cost for passes would go down and provide better access to campus for students.
6. From these interviews, I was able to see that students have a need for more parking, but they do not want the price for passes to go up. If anything they want them to go down or stay the same. I think this is something that I could work out in my business plan, as long as enough people buy parking passes.
As I've stated before in your posts and I will continue to echo this sentiment until the issue gets resolved, parking on campus is a major issue plaguing our student body. I agree that this issue should not be present at a Top 10 public university, students shouldn't have to worry about going to class everyday and not finding a parking spot. We pay a lot of money to get a degree here this should just be something that should be included in our tuition and fees. However I don't think expanding the parking garages will be the only fix necessary to resolve the issue. UF parking authority will continue to oversell their parking passes to anyone that wants one. I think that is where we need to start. Also I think the expansion of the garages will end up costing students more for these spaces. They are going to need to pay for all this construction and I don't think they will just build it without finding a way for us as a student body to pay for it. Overall, good interviews again, just maybe explore other option because I feel there is a better solution than expansion of the parking garages.
ReplyDeleteHey Remi!
ReplyDeleteI have always thought that parking on campus has been a huge issue for a while now and it is definitely something that a top 10 public university should address, and fix at that. I do believe that students continue to stumble upon this issue at some point throughout their time at UF and it is frustrating that nothing has been done regarding the selling of parking decals - the point at which I feel the issue lies. If that can be dealt with then I think the transition into creating more parking spaces or garages would be much easier to figure out. Keep up the good work!
Hi Remi,
ReplyDeleteParking is an issue at many campuses, not just UF so this would be a great business concept that could be implemented at a number of institutions. There are definitely ways around finding parking on campus like you said, many students chose to bike, walk, skateboard, or ride their scooter to and from campus. In a way, it's not such a terrible thing because that means students are more active. But on the other hand, we live in Florida where the weather is unpredictable and its hot. Parking on campus is currently a major inconvenience and is something that needs attention. Great post!