Students who have tried driving to campus know that it’s often difficult to find a place to park. In fact, for many students, difficult can often mean impossible.
According to a 1996 report by BRW, Inc., for the University, the most recent study of its kind, there are 6.2 students and staff per parking space on campus, a low ratio compared to other campuses. And with some 4,000 visitors flooding into campus daily, a parking problem can turn into a parking crisis.
The solution?
“Don’t bring your car,” said Rand Stamm, Department of Public Safety Parking and Transportation Manager. Instead, he recommends riding a bike, taking advantage of the University’s free Lane Transit District bus-riding program, or simply walking.
While Stamm admitted that it’s very difficult to find a place to park on campus, he said the University has “one of the best alternative transportation programs,” citing an abundance of bike racks, lockers and the free, unlimited LTD riding program paid for by incidental fees.
Junior Chris Perdue, who mans the EMU’s Transportation Resource Center kiosk, agreed that people should “avoid driving at all costs.” The resource center offers information about bus schedules and bike paths and offers bicycle registration cards. There is no cost for the mandatory bicycle registration, he said.
According to the report, most people heed Stamm’s and Perdue’s advice. Almost 40 percent of people come to campus alone by car, while nearly 30 percent come on foot, almost 16 percent come by bike, and about 14 percent come by public transit. And that doesn’t mean they don’t have cars available, either. More than two-thirds of students have a vehicle they could use, but only one-fifth choose to drive.
Despite the low percentage of students who drive to campus, parking still presents a problem. Those who get “creative with parking” and don’t pay receive anywhere from 24,000 to 40,000 parking citations per year, Stamm said. When more people drive, DPS tends to hand out more tickets, he said. After a person receives five unpaid tickets, DPS officers have the option of booting a car. If the car presents a safety hazard, it will be towed.
DPS tends to issue anywhere from 6,000 to 7,000 parking permits per school year, including term, year, month, construction, car and motorcycle permits, Stamm said. Fall daytime permits for students cost $91, while daytime faculty permits are $162. Students who want one of 400 available overnight permits must shell out $89 on top of the $91 daytime fee. Permits can be purchased through the DPS office.
Getting a permit, however, doesn’t guarantee that a would-be parker will find a spot.
There are some 3,300 metered and lot spots controlled by the University, Stamm said.
But what about free parking? Well, it simply doesn’t exist. By state law, only volunteers donating their time and efforts to the University are entitled to free parking, Stamm said.
Despite the parking situation, relief may be on the way for those reluctant to give up driving to campus.
A parking structure is being discussed that would expand on-campus parking. DPS is discussing a parking structure for campus that would most likely be funded through the sale of 30-year bonds, Stamm said.
But parking structures are not cheap, costing anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000 per parking space for an above-ground structure. A parking structure was nearly built in 1988 that would have added 300 spaces, but the project failed because of lack of support from neighbors and those at the University. Bonds totaling $3 million were taken out for that project, and the money was used to construct about 300 spaces elsewhere on campus.
This time around, there are no options for creating more parking other than a structure, Stamm said.
“If we want any more parking, the only option we have is to go up,” Stamm said.