Lack of parking spaces on campus is an issue that Binghamton University students know all too well. Students like Kevin Rasulo start off their day with stress while looking for a place to park.

“It’s nearly impossible to get spots anywhere near the Union without having to pay for them,” said Rasulo, an undeclared sophomore. “Even then it’s still hard to find a spot.”

Rasulo is far from the only student with on-campus parking complaints. But Jeremy Onuma and Zachary Foster, two BU students, are trying to solve the issue with the Enactus Carpooling Initiative.

Enactus is a national organization that facilitates community service projects while emphasizing the importance of a business perspective, which in this case is addressing the volume of commuter traffic on campus.

The program encourages students to carpool to campus. If a person registers with the initiative and drives to campus with at least two other people in the car, then that person is guaranteed a spot in the paid lot across from Glenn G. Bartle Library.

Onuma, a sophomore double-majoring in economics and Asian and American studies, and Foster, a junior majoring in business administration, have been working on their project since last semester and launched it two months ago.

“If off-campus students start to bring more than one person to campus, we will eventually have more space for everyone else,” Onuma said.

Enactus is currently in a test-run phase. Participants must have an off-campus parking permit and a car to sign up. The students are then added to the list, which is given to the information booth by the entrance of campus. When the students arrive to school each morning, their ID is checked and they are given a day pass voucher for the lot across from Bartle. The same voucher is used to lift the tollgate when they leave the spot.

“It’s a pretty simple system that we kicked off early this spring semester,” Onuma said. “The hard part was mainly coming up with the right way to address the problem.”

After getting approval from BU President Harvey Stenger, the team created its proposal and brought it to Susan Crane, the head of the parking services department.

Crane approved giving students registered with the initiative access to the paid lot not normally available to commuters. She said because fewer people will be bringing in cars, there will be more spots open elsewhere on campus for those other cars that usually go in the paid spot across from Bartle to fill.

“Our system has been in place for about four weeks and we have had positive feedback,” Onuma said. “Next steps will be helping our participants find more riders that align with their morning commute.”

Meagan Karl, a daily commuter to campus and a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience, said she thinks the initiative is a great idea.

“Recently, I’ve taken the bus more because I’ve found that it cuts out time trying to park,” Karl said. “I have signed up for [the carpooling initiative] but haven’t used it yet. I think it’s smart and makes sense on many levels, and I hope I’ll be able to take advantage of it soon.”