USD parking revamped

Will include tiered permits, no first-year parking 

Mikeala Foehr / Asst. News Editor / The USD Vista

The Office Parking Services at the University of San Diego is reassessing its policies, resulting in a tiered parking permit system that does not allow first-year students to park on campus starting next fall. The office published a draft of the “USD Parking and Mobility Plan” on its website on Sept. 25. The plan outlines four main areas that have been accessed and updated, including parking permits for staff and students, parking areas on campus, campus transportation, and citations. 

The tiered system has been proposed to give campus community members flexibility with the price of their parking permits. There will be five levels of campus parking permits: Proximity, Convenience Students, Convenience Staff and Faculty, Economy, and Fringe. However, the “Convenience Student” permit, which allows parking in areas surrounding campus dorms, is priced at $375 annually, up $85 from what students are currently paying. For staff members, the price increase is even steeper. Next fall, full-time faculty and staff will have to pay $875 annually to be able to park near various campus buildings, or $425 annually to park in select parking areas such as the Main Parking Structure, near Manchester Field, or behind the Sports Center. Both of these permit types are roughly $200 more than what staff and faculty currently have to pay for different types of permits. 

Junior Allie Roche doesn’t believe it is fair to increase permit prices this drastically. 

“Where else are people, especially teachers, going to park?” asked Roche. “There aren’t great options for street parking around campus so if you are here every day, you have to pay the price, no matter how expensive it is, which doesn’t seem fair.”

Roche’s classmate Nat Yee, however, is glad that USD is upping the parking permit price because he thinks it will encourage environmentally-friendly habits. 

“I am really happy that they increased parking permit prices because by increasing the price of parking I think it will drive students and teachers to carpool to school, ride motorcycles, bike, or take public transportation to school,” Yee said. 

Yee’s thoughts share the sentiment expressed in the Mobility Plan, which also includes a campus bike rental program that will be available at no charge to students. However, while the Mobility Plan supposedly offers many more parking options and alternatives to students, faculty and staff parking options seem to diminish.

Casey Dominguez Ph.D., professor in the Political Science Department, wishes the new parking plan would take into account the difficult schedules some faculty have to manage. 

“I just don’t think these changes are flexible enough for faculty members who teach at multiple schools or who have kids,” Dominguez said. “On top of paying significantly more, there will be a higher chance of having to park further away and be late for class if I can’t get to school early because of other, mandatory commitments.”

Beyond the higher price points, first-year students will no longer have the opportunity to park on campus. This is a radical shift from previous years, focused on opening up more spaces for the growing community. Currently, nearly all of the parking in the Valley is reserved for resident students. With growing class sizes, most of these residents, even in the halls traditionally reserved for older students, are first years. So, disallowing first years to park on campus will open up many areas for the rest of the community.

Although this is a big change for USD, many other colleges do not allow first-year students to have cars on campus, as sophomore Ellie Steinbrook pointed out. 

“A lot of schools do that,” Steinbrook said. “At (SDSU), for example, you aren’t allowed to bring a car until your second year. So I think it is kind of fair.”

Junior Hunter Pflueger understands that the parking systems need to be reevaluated, but acknowledges how this change will make life more difficult for first years. 

“I think it would be frustrating as a freshman, coming in and not being able to park on campus,” he said. “I understand that commuters should have priority, but as a freshman that would have been a big challenge for me.”

This plan is years in the making, according to the draft, with over two years of research going into the changes. Parking Services, in conjunction with the school’s administration, has decided to make these changes next year for three reasons. First, the school’s parking systems and pricing have not been updated in 20 years, according to the Mobility Plan. Secondly, USD’s enrollment has been consistently increasing, creating a need for more efficient parking practices to ensure the campus has enough space for everyone. Lastly, the university is already in a time of transition with the Renaissance Plan (a building maintenance plan in connection to the 75th anniversary of the university) underway, so it may be a logical time to revamp campus parking policies. 

Balancing parking policies that will work for resident students, commuters, staff, faculty, and visitors is a difficult task. Any given set of rules is likely to make life more difficult, financially or convenience-wise, for at least one other group. In recognition of this, Parking Services included in its plan that the parking policies will routinely be reevaluated. This opens the door for changes that could come from community feedback. The Parking Services office is located in Hahn University Center 102 and its office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.