Plans to Avoid Future Parking Shortages Approved
Ioana Patringenaru | March 31, 2008
Brian d’Autremont, the campus' parking and transportation director.
The East Campus will get a new parking structure. Members of the UCSD community will have increased access to public transit and other transportation alternatives. In a few years, parking could be restricted for freshmen.
These are some of the measures that the Transportation Policy Committee (TPC) and Vice Chancellor Steven Relyea recently approved to alleviate future parking shortages on campus. Also, parking permit prices will not go up for the 2008-09 academic year, said Brian d’Autremont, the campus’ parking and transportation director.
“We found ways to cut costs and we’re very concerned about the expenses to the employees,” d’Autremont said. “The TPC is very conscious and careful with employees’ money.”
Without these measures, parking at UCSD would have become much more difficult within the next five years, as the campus population grows at the same time as the number of parking spots would have decreased because of several construction projects. Campus officials held a series of forums with staff, faculty and students in January to get input about coping with the potential shortages.
Last month, the campus’ Transportation Policy Committee voted on a series of recommendations to deal with these issues. The group gave the green light to a 1000-spot parking structure at Thornton Hospital. It would cost about $30 million, according to documents. But most of the costs would be borne by the hospital, d’Autremont said. The structure should be ready in about three years, he added.
Meanwhile, the committee also recommended a flurry of measures to boost alternative transportation options at UCSD. Campus officials are working with other government agencies to offer a regional transit pass that would allow members of the UCSD community to use all public transportation for free, d’Autremont said. He added UCSD is hoping to make the pass available for free. D’Autremont said officials are negotiating with the North County Transit District to include the Coaster in the pass, in addition to all other train and bus routes in the county. UCSD plans to roll out the pass this summer, d’Autremont said, adding he hopes it would get at least 500 to 1,000 people out of their cars.
Also, freshmen might not be able to park on campus starting with the 2010-2011 academic year, freeing up about 1000 spots on campus, d’Autremont said. UCSD’s population will increase by about 5,300 by the 2012-13 academic year, according to a recent report assessing the campus’ parking and transportation needs. Without the measures approved by the TPC, the campus would have lost about 1,660 parking spaces, as new buildings rise where parking lots used to be.
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