University City Traffic Jam: a Yearly Problem
majed alhmdn hamad alyami
The King Saud University (KSU) staff members and students pinned hopes that the first multi-storey car parking might solve the longstanding problem of parking that aggravates yearly due to the increasing figures of admitted students. Yet, on the first day, everybody was shocked with heavy traffic jam and wrong parking on campus.
The first day was a dilemma: cars stopped at parking lots, roads, and traffic signs, and the security and safety men were bystanders. They took action in the following day. They worked out a plan curtailing the car jam to some extent.
Complaining about the car jam, student Hamad Al-Yamy, a student at the Medical College, said, “It is a real problem that a speedy action should be taken about. I do criticize dedicating parking lots for the faculty members since few of them are used. I have to walk for 500 meter long a day to reach the college. This, of course, affects negatively on attending lectures on time.”
Voicing astonishment over having few entrances, Majid Al-Hemdan, a freshman, College of Languages and Translation, said, “I wonder that there are few entrances and exits on campus. I do hate the random parking in the new parking lots nearby a chopper airstrip.”
Stuck with his car, Mohammed al-Qarny, a student in the Community College, could not move his car a centimeter for his car was surrounded by cars parked randomly and wrongly. “This way my life affairs are delayed,” he complained.
Bashir Anas Ar-Rehaimy, a sophomore, said, “I walk for long and I find no bus as claimed to be roaming in the University City. I reached 07:30 am; parked the car; went out at 14:30; and found no single bus.”
Dr. Nader Siyam, a faculty member, said, “It is a longstanding problem, and is repeated every year at the beginning of the academic year. I feel sorry that I hardly find a parking for my car despite that there are exclusive parking lots for the faculty members.”
Mr. Abdul-Aziz al-Hemedan, director of security and safety department, said, “There are about 70-80 fines registered a day by the 60 field officers. They are forwarded to Riyadh Traffic Department. Some students do not park in larger area of the parking lots since they want to park closer to their destinations.”
Refuting allegations that there are no buses roaming in the University City, Al-Hemedan said, “There are five buses shuttling the area to transport students to and fro on campus. The core of the problem is the lack of traffic awareness.”