As with parking on any campus, many issues have been raised by the large variety of actors that play a role in how things operate.  Below are just a few of the current issues that have been mentioned by both enforcement officials as well as the students themselves.  For additional and more up to date information you can check out ongoing discussions by the Campus Parking Committee, which acts as a board of advisors representing staff, faculty, and students.

Some of the issues identified by TAPS (Transit and Parking Services) annual reports* are- 

ADA spaces- According to year to year reviews, usage appears to be underdeveloped.  Utilization of spots is currently around 36% during primary parking enforcement hours (compared to over 80% utilization for other spots).  However, primary usage has been attributed to after hours events (such as concerts in LaSells and sporting events).  ADA spots currently represent 2.5% of total parking spots.  ADA can park anywhere as of now.  They can park in any 30 minute metered spaces for free. 

Converting prime parking spaces to bike spaces- Recently it was decided to convert spaces along 14^th/15^th street in front of Benton Hall Changing parking spots to bicycle spots, to promote biking and provide a safer roadway.

Bookstore Lot- The bookstore lot is intended to be a customer lot, not a student lot.  However, the lot is a pay lot until 8:30 when the bookstore most often closes at 5:30.  TAPS has observed that people coming to campus at night are taken by surprise and don’t realize that it is a pay lot until 8:30.   It would affect the maintenance and revenue if times were changed.  Many meetings in the area occur from 6 to 8 PM, and people park there because it is dark and they don’t want to walk across campus.  Because the meters are only an hour, attendees have to run out to put more money in.

Free Lot- There used to be free parking around Reser Stadium, with shuttles to take students to campus.  The Reser free lot ran about 2/3 full.  This was recently eliminated during the construction of the parking structure, and has stayed that way.  There is a new free lot, but with a different location, on the north side of campus just west of the Motor Pool.  It is not quite as big, but a little closer in, and parking from Conferences and Events will probably not be a factor due to the new role of the parking structure.

Tiered System (proposed for 2011)-  Tier one is core parking.  Using a new fee structure, you would pay a significant fee to park in that area.  Tier two is less expensive, and further out Reser Stadium is much less.  Greatly reduced permit parking would be behind the Hilton Inn at $40.  The thought is to give choices.  The challenge is to meet the revenue numbers.  The main objective is reducing demand in campus core, and to encourage people to park elsewhere.  This is also from student interest in a variable selection of parking fees.  The proposal is based on an assumption that for every spot you need to sell one and a half, and you need to make sure you don’t oversell any area.

Since people may choose to park in the outer lots but work in core, there would be a need to look at lighting, pathways, and the costs associated with those improvements.  There is a question about where we draw the boundaries.  In some cases one side of the street would cost more than the other.  There would be a large cost for sign changes, regulation changes, the process of change would be frustrating and cost a lot.  It will be a huge time investment to change this process.

*TAPS 2004 Annual Report-

http://oregonstate.edu/facilities/transit_pkg/documents/pkgutil2004.doc

 Some issues addressed by the students include- 

Ticket Policies- Students have had concerns with postings and methods of processing parking fines (such as billing to the student account) as well as the appeals process.  See:

http://media.barometer.orst.edu/media/storage/paper854/news/2006/03/10/News/Asosu.Undergrad.Senate.Looks.At.Parking-2292299.shtml

http://media.barometer.orst.edu/media/storage/paper854/news/2005/03/07/News/Parking.Meeting.Sees.High.Turnout.Tension-2300141.shtml

Parking permit prices- Have been increasing sharply over the past 5 years.  See:

http://media.barometer.orst.edu/media/storage/paper854/news/2006/01/17/News/Permit.Costs.To.Rise.By.20.Percent-2292803.shtml

http://media.barometer.orst.edu/media/storage/paper854/news/2003/10/14/News/Navigating.The.Parking.Debate-2297881.shtml

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