Historically, parking has been a significant issue on this campus. Under normal conditions it is difficult and sometimes nearly impossible for a commuter to locate a space for their vehicle during prime parking times. With the upcoming construction of the EMPAC building and the biotech center, the parking situation promises to spiral into further disarray and difficulty. The staging areas necessary for the construction will also affect the parking of the faculty and staff.
The interim plan appears to be a good one, including what seem to be solid ideas to alleviate parking issues for commuters, faculty, and staff. One concern, however, lies in a lack of explanation concerning how resident parking will fit into this new plan. No special changes to resident parking have been specified. But nothing stating that parking will remain has been expressed, either. The ban on freshman cars from campus will help to alleviate parking issues, but it may not be enough.
Another way to help with limited parking could be to encourage the utilization of alternative modes of transportation to campus, namely walking or biking.
While on-campus facilities like bike racks exist for storing a bicycle during the day and/or evening, the location and security of these could be improved. Many students live close enough to campus to ride their bicycles instead of driving, but the lack of safe locations to store the bikes have discouraged them from doing so. Perhaps a check-in area where the bicycles could be monitored could be created. An ideal location for this could be outside of the VIC, where there is already someone on duty.
Another suggestion is increased carpooling, or perhaps the design and implementation a carpooling program. Although carpooling still requires a parking space, if four people (who would normally have driven themselves) all take one car, that is three fewer vehicles that will need to find a place to park.
