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Parking office oversells
general parking permits
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Armed with a blue, white and gold parking permit and 20
disposable minutes, many Boise State students venture out to test
their luck in the general parking lots.
With patience pushed to extreme limits, the luckiest students are
usually able to claim a coveted space leaving little time to run to
class. The less fortunate pack hiking gear.
Owning a general parking permit does not guarantee a parking
spot in the assigned lots.
“A general parking pass is like a hunting license, there is
no guarantee you will find a spot,” said Jared Everett,
director of Parking and Transportation Services.
BSU puts no limit on the number of general parking passes sold. For
the spring 2004 semester, 7,000 general permits were sold for 3,000
general parking spots.
“Most students do not attend school each day, all day long;
many students take evening courses when parking demand is less, and
many students take classes on two or three days a week instead of
five. This allows for some degree of over-sell,” Everett
said.
To offset the cost of building the parking garage on University
Dr., the price of a general permit has increased by 50 percent over
three years. However, general parking passes are not admissible in
the garage.
Executive Director of Facilities Operations and Maintenance and
Chair of the Parking Advisory Committee Larry Blake, said it is a
problem of cost efficiency.
On the brighter side, Blake said there are no current plans to
raise prices in the immediate future.
The parking committee is currently looking for new ways to increase
funding for parking.
“We are looking at raising the prices charged for venue
parking, such as athletic, student union and drama events,”
Blake said.
These charges have remained static while the other parking rates
have soared.
Everett has found additional ways to add parking and cut costs as
well.
During the summer 2004 term, Parking and Transportation Services
will gain 160 parking spots from redesigning and resurfacing the
lot. An additional 12 spaces will be created by restructuring an
inefficient lot at the corner of Royal and Lusk Avenues, off of
Capitol Boulevard.
But of the newly available spots, very few will be available for
general permit parking.
“Most of those spaces will be replacing the 150 student
housing spots that were taken when BSU started construction on the
new halls,” Blake said.
Long term fixes for the overpopulation of general parking permits
include the possibility of housing a multi-mobile transit center on
campus. This proposed development will be largely funded through
the Federal Transportation Administration, saving students from
paying the largest portion through permit increases. The plans have
cleared the first preliminary planning stage and an environmental
assessment for location is ready to be conducted.
Parking confinements are also expected to ease after the expansion
of Boise State’s west campus in Nampa, expected to be
operational by fall 2005. BSU West will offer 1,000 additional
parking spaces and reduce the clutter of cars as well as students
on the main campus.
The updated master plan for parking also endorses three additional
parking garages which would be added to the vicinity over a 20-year
span.
But the immediate future looks pretty grim for general parking
permit holders.
“We are sensitive to the number of general parking spots
available and intend to find a solution to the problem that is
within the financial means,” Blake said.
There is a possible addition of general parking in the south-east
expansion area of Euclid Street, where homes are being purchased by
the university.
“If BSU doesn’t have short-term plans for the three
square blocks, we might be able to add some general
lots.”
Charlie Clayton
Investigative Reporter
