Students returning to SUNY Buffalo State this semester were greeted by new signposts around campus, which included new names for parking lots on the grounds.

Facilities planner Sarah Reid said the name changes were a way to make the parking lots less confusing. She said that the old system started naming lots by letters, but as the years went on and more lots were added, the names became inconsistent. There were lots A through H, for example, but no I or J before skipping to K.

Reid said the sign replacements were a good opportunity to improve the lot naming system.

“Since we were going to replace the signs, we went by letter and number,” she said. “We thought, this is the time to change them.”

Parking lots were previously referred to by letters of the alphabet. Under the new system launched in August, the lots are labeled by a letter representing the street they are located on followed by a number. For example, the largest lot off of Rockwell, known before as “G Lot,” is now R-14. Each lot also uses a unique number, so R-14 is the only lot on campus which uses the number 14.

Student reaction to the new names has been mixed.

Angela Fusco, senior communication studies major from Buffalo, transferred out of Buffalo State three years ago but returned this semester. She said she preferred the new names.

“I like them,” Fusco said. “It makes it a lot easier to figure out which parking lot is which, especially since I haven’t been back in a while.”

Other students who were more used to the old names were less enthusiastic about the changes.

“I think they’re just way too confusing,” said Emily Certo, sophomore biology major from Lewiston. “The single letters were fine, but now it’s ‘I’ this, ‘I’ that.”

Parking lot signs were not the only ones updated on campus. Reid said that by the end of September or early October, the signs outside each building will be updated, and new maps will be placed around campus to make navigation easier for pedestrians.

“It’s really going to improve wayfinding around campus,” she said. “It’s a good thing.”

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