The parking predicament

New construction prompts restructuring of on-campus parking

Glenn McDonell/Asst. News Editor/The USD Vista

The University of San Diego’s location on the top of a mesa allows for sweeping views and  stunning sunsets, but also has its downsides for those who live down below and need to find parking on a daily basis. While the university has built parking garages near both of the major entrances to the campus, many commuter students have problems with the accessibility of these parking spaces.  

Commuter student Takuma Maruo, who makes the trip from Poway to campus every morning, says that the tram system servicing the West parking structure is one of the biggest problems for students like himself who have to drive to and park on campus every day.  

“I have most of my classes on the west side of campus in Olin,” Maruo said. “Right now if I’m headed to class in Olin I have to park in the West parking structure, and a lot of students have issues with parking there because of the tram system.” 

Maruo has talked with fellow students in the business school about how difficult it can be to get to a class in Olin Hall on time when coming from the West parking structure at the bottom of the hill.   

“I have friends who have to get from Coronado to Olin in 10 minutes every day, and if the tram isn’t there when they expect then they could be late to class, or even be late to a test,” Maruo said. “If they would increase the consistency of the trams going down to the West lot, that would really be helpful.” 

For junior and commuter student Tony Sotornik, changes to both the tram system and the parking distribution have led him to choose alternative parking options, even when the West lot is closest to his class. 

“I used to use the tram to get up the hill to go to class in Olin, but it’s made me late so many times that now I just park in the Missions structure or in the Law lot if I’m able to get here really early,” Sotornik said. “Even when a tram comes, there’s no guarantee you’ll get on because it takes three trams to take care of one crowd during the busy times. They need to hire more drivers. ” 

While Sotornik sees room for improvement for the tram system, his biggest concern with on-campus parking has to do with the distribution of spots designated for commuter students.  

“The biggest thing they should do is change yellow to white,” Sotornik said. “If they’re interested in making money, they should make the best spots available to purchase.  I would definitely pay an extra few hundred to guarantee a spot so that when I’m running late at least then I would know I have a spot. I wanna see more spots on main campus because I don’t think the West lot is the best they can do.” 

Vice President of University Operations Ky Snyder, who oversees campus transportation and parking services, says the biggest challenge for the parking infrastructures on campus is not increasing the amount of spaces, but rather incentivizing commuters to make use of the West parking structure. 

“The fact is that we do have enough parking on campus,” Snyder said. “The problem is that it’s not where everyone would like it, and so that’s why mobility is so important.” 

Snyder acknowledges that improving the tram system would improve the parking experience for commuter students. His office has found that the biggest challenge for the parking infrastructure on campus is that many students choose not to use the West Parking Structure. 

“We monitored our campus during the heaviest traffic period and found that 823 spots were available,” Snyder said.

By improving the tram service from the West parking structure up to main campus, University Operations hopes that more students will use the vacant spots on the fringes of campus.   

“The tram system absolutely has to get better,” Snyder said. “We have to do a better job of getting people from where they parked to where they want to be.  Once you get onto campus we need to be able to deliver you to where you need to be quickly.”

Snyder says the university has hired a parking consulting firm, and will be considering new tram routes based on the data collected.  

“We’re currently experimenting with different routes and taking a look at when the heavy ridership is,” Snyder said. 

According to the July 2018 update of USD’s Master Plan, which details the vision for campus expansion and improvement, the university will consider improving the tram service to meet student demand going forward. 

The list of proposed improvements to the system include tram station shelter concepts complete with Wifi hubs and rainwater collection, but nothing regarding changes to West lot service routes.  

University Operations has considered expanding the service in the past but has run into difficulties.  

According to Snyder, the biggest obstacles have been efficiency and driver schedules.  

“We would like to get more trams running, but the system is losing money as is,” Snyder said. “If we run more during the busy times of day and take them off when there is less demand, we could make the system more effective. The problem is that this wouldn’t work with the average driver’s schedule.” 

Snyder also said that the University Operations team is considering a route which would repeatedly run down Marian Way between the West lot and Colachis Plaza in an effort to reduce the wait time during the busiest times of the day for commuter students.

“We’re looking into shifting towards the possibility of sending a driver up and down constantly,” Snyder said. “Eventually, we’re hoping to get the wait time down to approximately four minutes.” 

Aside from improvements to the tram system, University Operations is also considering changes to both the distribution and pricing of spots on the main parts of campus, which the plan refers to as the “mesa.” 

This will likely mean more spots available to commuters closer to the academic buildings, but potentially at a higher rate than those in the West parking structure.  

“We know students are upset about all the empty reserved spots they see on campus,” Snyder said. “Anytime there is an empty space reserved for a single person, that’s a waste.  That’s why we’re moving away from that- there’s no longer going to be reserved spots for faculty.” 

Snyder also pointed to the implementation of a tiered permit pricing structure as a likely reform to the existing system. 

This would price spots in the Olin or the Law School lots higher than those in the West parking structure.  

“We are going to raise some rates, but we’re also going to keep some low,” Snyder said. “Our goal is to provide affordable parking in the fringe areas to those who don’t want to pay as much, while offering the more convenient spots at a higher cost.”  

While University Operation’s acknowledges student concerns with parking, Snyder also believes that student expectations are somewhat unrealistic.  

“We want students to understand that there’s plenty of parking on the west side of campus,” Snyder said.  “People need to shift their mentality from expecting a spot to be right next to the building they’re headed for.”

Students can expect to see some of these reforms begin to change the parking system over the course of the next two semesters.  

Whether an improved tram system and a reshuffling of spots will significantly change the commuting experience remains to be seen.