Campus Parking Plans Outlined

January 20, 2009

Brian d’Autremont, the campus' parking
and transportation director.

The price of parking permits will not go up for the 2009-10 academic year, officials announced last week. It will be the second consecutive year that fees have stayed flat. Permits cost $55 per month for students, $81 for staff members and $93 for faculty. Other permits, with various restrictions and conditions, are available at different prices.

“UCSD Business Affairs has been very concerned with our university community in this trying financial time,” said Brian d’Autremont, director of Transportation Services. “Based on very real savings and efficiencies, we found a way to help, which is what being a community really means.  The leadership of Vice Chancellor Steven Relyea, and the support of Assistant Vice Chancellor Russ Thackston made this decision possible.”

During the next few months, Transportation Services also will be conducting two studies vital to the future of commuting at UCSD. A parking permit study will examine current parking policies and their impact on parking availability. A transit funding study will examine different funding options for the campus shuttle system as well as public transit services at UCSD.

The primary goal of these studies is to develop recommendations for long-term programs and campus policies to improve parking availability and continue transit funding, officials said. They will be conducting focus groups, online surveys and informational forums to obtain customer feedback before making any recommendations to the Transportation Policy Committee.

Meanwhile, Transportation Services implemented the following improvements this past fall:

• Absorbing the annual MTS fare increase for transit pass holders
• Automating sales and direct delivery of student permits and as a result dramatically reducing lines at the Parking Office
• Answering 85 percent of customer requests within 24 hours
• Negotiating service changes with MTS to increase service on two high-use route
• Improving the Motorist Assistance Program by adding new equipment
• Developing an online customer satisfaction survey accessible through all staff e-mails.

This year the department plans to:

• Implement policy to allow campus customers to schedule appointments
• Increase the number of patient parking spaces at the La Jolla Medical Center and add express payment lanes.

Members of the UCSD community can share their ideas on any transportation topics by e-mailing TellTPS@ucsd.edu or calling (858) 534-9762.