USU parking has space to grow
“Parking is something everybody loves to hate,” said Utah State University spokesman John DeVilbiss.
Parking at USU is a constant complaint from students and faculty, DeVilbiss said, but compared to other institutions, USU has it pretty good.
“We call it the Kmart attitude,” said Lisa Leishman, director of Parking and Transportation Services. “Everywhere you go there is parking, it’s just whether you get close to the front door.”
Since the 1970s, major revisions have taken place at USU.
“The master plan calls for the core campus to be academic,” Leishman said.
The idea is to condense parking close to campus. This will limit pedestrian and vehicle conflicts, as well as keep buildings close together, minimizing walking time between classes.
“We love our cars and our parking,” DeVilbiss said. “At the same time, if we want to be a green campus and a walking campus, then we have to give up parking lots.”
Major lots that used to occupy the center of campus have been replaced by buildings or open green spaces. One of these lots was the student B lot to the east of the Taggart Student Center. In the 1970s, instead of ending at the University Inn, the lot surrounded the TSC where the patio and fountains are today, extending to the south side of the Animal Science and Geology buildings.
Another change came during the same era, when a large lot occupied the western side of Engineering Building. That lot was torn up to provide green space, what is known as the Little Quad between the Engineering Building and Science and Technology Library.
“We’ve made the conscious decision to make this a walking campus,” DeVilbiss said. “That’s one of the main reasons we constantly update the shuttle system.”
As the student population grows, parking will occupy more and more of the campus perimeter. Instead of driving and parking close to campus buildings, students will make use of perimeter parking, like that at Romney Stadium, Leishman said. Since the student population is expected to jump to 26,000 in the next five years, the Aggie Shuttle will become a greater asset. Since its inception in 1995, ridership has skyrocketed and three more buses have been purchased just this year, bringing the total to 10, she said.
“At peak times they’re all on route,” Leishman said. “The Aggie Shuttle really keeps us alive.”
Although the shuttle is ridden mostly by students, faculty and staff reliance has increased, she said.
DeVilbiss said more than 1,100 faculty and staff are on parking permit waiting lists. They are waiting for permits to park in interior campus lots.
While they wait, faculty are forced to purchase Economy permits to park in places like the stadium.
“Most of them have to take the shuttle,” DeVilbiss said.
One of them is Suzanne Johnson, a staff assistant for Multicultural Student Services, housed in the TSC.
“It would be great to park next to the building, but it’s a reality on any college campus. It’s the way it is,” she said. “When you come to work at Utah State University, we have to accept some inconveniences. But students are in the same situation.”
Students still don’t have a lot to complain about, said Celestial Bybee, president of the Associated Students at USU. As Utah’s largest residential campus, USU has more than 80 percent of students living within walking distance to campus, she said.
“We are privileged to have enough parking,” Leishman said. “It’s just we can’t park next to the front door.”
Last year, a study conducted by an independent firm, Walker Parking Consultants, found close to 1,800 parking spaces on campus remain empty on a daily basis – most of them at Romney Stadium.
The results of its study concluded the parking situation at USU is excellent. Its only recommendation is to construct an additional parking terrace near the center of campus if people are willing to pay, Leishman said.
The current parking terrace holds 318 vehicles and is sometimes full by noon. The plan is to construct a second terrace for 300 cars on Old Main Hill, where the old heating plant is now.
“All of the excess revenue we have each year is allocated toward that parking structure,” Leishman said.
It is estimated $250,000 will be allotted to the new structure this school year. At a cost of $10,000 per parking space, or $3 million, to construct, the new terrace is planned for 2006-08. The structure will allow for expansion to 600 spaces if needed, Leishman said.
Because of the minimal difference from $10 for an economy to $35 for a B permit, the B lots see a major increase in usage, she said. To discourage increased parking in the campus core surface lots and raise money for the additional terrace, administrators plan to raise the cost of student B permits.
“We call it a ‘hunting permit,’ because when you get one, you have to hunt for a parking spot,” Leishman said.
“We have attended conferences at other universities, and we have it much better than most,” she said. “There are some universities who cannot accommodate their faculty and staff.”
Parking at the University of Oregon, which is relatively the same size as USU, is almost non-existent. Incoming freshmen are told to leave their cars at home. Because parking is so limited at the urban campus, students pay from $200 to $300 a year, according to the school’s Web site.
“We are the envy of many institutions,” DeVilbiss said.
Parking at the University of California Davis, one of USU’s peer institutions, charges students $230 per semester. Other institutions, like Arizona State University, have plenty of stadium parking, but that’s a 20-minute walk to the center of campus and $35 per semester.
So, a 10-minute walk and $10 for parking at Romney Stadium isn’t bad at all, Leishman said.
When USU was founded in 1888, automobiles didn’t exist. As USU continues into its third century, changes will continually be made as the university shifts to accommodate growth and transformation. A transition to perimeter parking will allow for even more growth at USU, as student population is anticipated to double in the next 40 years.
-tobyghayes@cc.usu.edu