Some students on campus are complaining about the limited availability of parking spaces in commuter parking lots on campus and reduced the frequency of bus service to the alternative park-and-ride lots.
Considering this year is the University’s “Year of Energy,” the Transportation Department needs to stop overassigning permits, expand park-and-ride bus service and start promoting alternative means of transit for commuters.
According to Greg Cain, assistant director for parking, the University has addressed the overcrowded commuter lots. Cain said the University cannot reasonably expect to keep up with the demand for parking spots – people will always want to park near the buildings where they have classes. He also said transportation routinely assigns more permits for commuter lots than there are parking spots, as not all people who have purchased spots will be on campus at the same time.
Cain estimated there are about 16,000 available parking spots for both main and Centennial campuses. David Gregory, parking services manager, said the number of overall spots fluctuates from the official number of 19,000 parking spaces due to construction and other disruptions. Approximately 554 are designated for specific permits or service vehicles and 804 are part of the pay lots.
The University cannot claim that the free park-and-ride lots solve overcrowding at on-campus commuter parking areas, reduce the frequency at which buses service the park-and-ride lots and declare that all the parking problems are solved.
Further, the University has made energy conservation a top priority. Making the campus a car-friendly environment by expanding parking availability while cutting back on Wolfline bus routes defeats the purpose of the “Year of Energy.”
Transportation needs to stop assigning excess permits when parking space is a limited commodity and will only make overcrowding in on-campus parking lots worse. The University also needs to improve bus service to the park-and-ride commuter lots. Students should be able to rely on buses to get them to class on time when parking is scarce.
