With enrollment projected to hit 20,000 next year, the University’s parking situation is in dire need of attention. More drivers will be wanting to park on campus, which will result in more parking headaches. With only 3,250 parking spaces available and more than 6,000 permits sold, the University has to take action now before the situation worsens.
In 1996, the Campus Planning Committee reviewed the campus parking system and outlined suggestions the school should take to alleviate future parking woes. After six years, little headway has been made on the suggestions because there hasn’t been any leadership — or real initiative — to implement the suggestions.
Under the current structure, there is only one person in the Department of Public Safety who deals directly with the day-to-day realities of the University’s parking situation — including ticketing and responding to parking complaints.
But if we are serious about implementing the suggested parking initiatives, there needs to be more than one person involved in the project.
To start, the University must hire a person to directly plan short- and long-term solutions to the parking problem. The position could be funded without much difficulty — according to University planner Fred Tepfer, the University has about $1 million in reserve for parking projects.
The next step for the University would be to decide on a concrete timeline to follow through on the committee’s suggestions. The initial ideas from the 1996 plan included a zone parking system, designated carpool parking and encouraging use of Lane Transit District’s park-and-ride system.
The plan to create a parking garage should be a last resort for the University, and the committee’s suggestions reflect this. Plans to build a parking facility have been floated since the 1980s, and the idea has always been sunk by various opponents, including the Eugene City Council and neighborhood associations. A parking structure may be necessary someday, but for now, planners need to look to improving and maintaining the spaces already established.
Once the new parking planning liaison position is filled, the committee’s short-term solutions need to be promoted to current and incoming students alike. The liaison should also make sure students are educated about new alternative transportation methods and promote their use. This way, new students won’t have to guess what the University is doing about their parking needs, and the channels of communication can open up.
Advertising of the new parking solutions also needs to involve the ASUO. We hope ASUO President-elect Rachel Pilliod will make improving the parking situation on campus one of her term’s hallmark accomplishments. Getting students enthused about parking alternatives is a daunting task, but we believe Pilliod has the energy and rallying power to do so.
The University needs to make this project a priority and act with the same tenacity as they did to secure funding for the Autzen Stadium expansion or the Lillis Business Complex construction. The parking woes will only continue to worsen when more students flood the campus in the fall. Creating more parking spots will only encourage more cars to park in them, and the University needs to work to get more longevity out of the spaces already available.