How Does the Traffic Design of Georgia State’s Campus Compare to the Traffic Design of Other Campuses

Partnered with Blake.

searched at library.gsu.edu using advanced search with terms: “georgia state university”, “campus”, and “traffic”.

Part I: Library Databases

  • Scholarly article: Parking and Traffic at a Local University by Georgia N. L. J. Polacek and Camille Shawntey Graham from James Madison University.

It is a scholarly source because it is published by students from another university. This article presents information regarding with surveys and statistics from the other students within the campus about the issues about driving and parking to campus. I would add to it mainly because it features statistics that have been recorded and researched from other students that participated in them.

  • Popular Culture: Go With the Flow: Campus Traffic and Parking Solutions by Ann McClure and KeriLee Horan.

This article is seen as a popular article because it presents a number of “tips” that is given to college and university students who are most likely to read this in order to exercise these tips in their search for parking spaces and avoiding traffic to/from campuses. I would use this because it does mention other schools in Georgia such as The University of Georgia that are having issues with campus traffic.

  • My experience from attending (and visiting) another college campus(es) such as Valdosta State University, Clemson University, and University of Alabama.

My personal experience from attending and visiting other college campuses prior to attending Georgia State University is a personal site because it is coming from a personal perspective. I would use this, not only because it is my own, but because I have seen and experienced different traffic designs from these other campuses.

When enrolled in Valdosta State, the campus is the center of a rural suburban town. So being a suburban area, there was not that much traffic going on. And because the campus was all in one area, there was no barely any traffic that circulated within it. The main parking deck would be located in one area far from most of the dormitories and near the campus recreation center. Comparing Georgia State’s campus to Valdosta’s, GSU is centered near the heart of Downtown Atlanta and the buildings of the campus are all spreaded out. Because of this, there are a number of parking decks that label by alphabets spreaded near these buildings throughout the scattered campus. Already being set in an urban environment, commuters, students and faculty members that drive to and from campus are already affected and a part of the traffic that happens within the city streets. Although most students are willingly to walk to class or take the shuttle services provided for us, others either search for parking spots near buildings or park at Turner Field.

Even though I never enrolled in these institutions, Clemson and Alabama campuses face nearly the same amount of traffic that Valdosta has. Except, I presume because these are larger campuses than both Valdosta State and Georgia State that during weekends, especially of football games, that the campus traffic is almost the same as Atlanta’s but more organization because the campuses are set in one area not spread out.

 

Part II: Pull a Useful Quotation.

“Adding parking lots or constructing parking garages only encourages increased traffic to campus and will not have a positive effect on the air quality of the community.” (Polacek and Graham 68)

Graham, Camille Shawntey. Polacek, Georgia N. L. J., (2011) Parking and Traffic at a Local University. James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.

 

Part III: Paraphrase the Quotation.

The quotation is from the conclusion of the article which states that adding more parking lots and garages for students and faculty who drive and commute to campus will cause more traffic within the area and also cause more pollution. This I believe to be true. As a student that lives on campus, I hear stories from other peers that commute to and from campus who are always looking for parking spots and how some have even said that it has taken about an hour to find one. If that statement was exaggerated or not, still, despite attending a school with nearly 20 different parking decks located around campus, it is still difficult for students and faculty and staff to find appropriate and beneficial spaces. Also, the fact the excessive traffic causes more gas to burn, that causes a problem for the ecosystem regarding the area being polluted.

 

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