Six of the seven solar-powered pay-to-park stations that cost $10,000 each were shut down and replaced with permit parking Monday by Department of Public Safety officials after complaints from students about the stations’ frequent breakdowns.
Students without campus parking permits will no longer be able to park their cars in 87 East 15th Avenue pay-to-park spots near Hayward Field and the Walton Complex because of the changes. Now, only faculty, staff and students with permits may use those spaces.
The EMU visitors parking lot pay station also was shut down, and only cars with visitor permits will be allowed to park in it.
To compensate for the loss of the 87 pay-to-park spots, 50 parking meters along University Street near McArthur Court will have their permit-override stickers removed, DPS Administrative Lieutenant Joan Saylor said. The permit-override stickers previously allowed students with campus parking permits to park in those spaces without having to pay the meter.
The Emerald reported in March that the seven solar-powered stations were installed after DPS Parking and Transportation Manager Rand Stamm saw the success of the stations in downtown Portland and proposed the University should use them.
Each station – costing much more than a traditional meter, which costs about $350 minus the post and installation costs – has the potential to cover 1,000 parking spaces and is secured with bullet-proof steel, drill resistant locks and anti-crowbar door protection, the Emerald reported.
Saylor said she doesn’t know exactly when DPS will make more changes at the 15th Avenue spaces, but she said that it will take DPS at least a few months to decide on further changes. DPS is currently working to research and plan future parking changes, she said.
Saylor said overnight parking in the 15th Avenue spaces will not be allowed, even with a faculty, staff or student parking permit.
DPS had received a number of complaints from students about the pay stations’ reliability, Saylor said. Many have broken down several times, frustrating students and DPS officials, she said.
Saylor cited the need to frequently repair the meters as the main reason for the changes. She compared the stations to “a vending machine that keeps spitting your dollar bill back out at you.”
Saylor said she doubted the changes will affect students without parking permits too much, because they are still able to park along University Street.
DPS Director Tom Hicks wrote in an e-mail that DPS is currently evaluating options for how to arrange for an additional 10 to 20 spaces just west of the Bowerman Building to be made available to students or visitors who purchase one-day temporary passes or visitor permits.
One-day visitor parking permits will be sold for parking in the EMU visitor lot, Hicks also wrote in the e-mail.
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