IS HAVING a car in Charlottesville a blessing or a curse? Perhaps it is a bit of both. For students who have jobs or take part in activities in the greater Charlottesville area, the increased mobility that a car provides is invaluable. But just how many parking tickets is having a car worth?
Though most parts of the University are accessible by foot or the University Transit Service's extensive bus routes, its parking accommodations, at least those that are most convenient for students, are lacking. For instance, attempting to find parking in the crowded Lambeth Field parking lot or at Bice on a weeknight is nearly impossible. Students who are unable to find convenient parking can always park at U-Hall or in the Emmet/Ivy parking garage, though this requires a bit of a trek back to Central Grounds either by bus or foot. Parking in either the U-Hall lot or behind Scott Stadium presents further complications for students, who must move their vehicles on game days. Students living in other locations, such as the French and Spanish houses and the Shea House, formerly the Monroe Lane Language House, have very limited access to local parking.
Those living far enough from Grounds that they cannot easily walk are also presented with problems due to lack of parking accommodations. Convenient commuter parking is limited, with permits available to students through a lottery system run by University Parking and Transportation. These permits allow parking either behind the Engineering School in the E3 lot or adjacent to the School of Architecture in the A9 and A10 lots. Yet relatively few students have access to these spaces. For example, permits for the E3 lot, which has 468 spaces available, are sold to both students and faculty or staff. In addition, spaces in the E3, A9 and A10 lots come with a hefty price tag of $288 per year.
While most University lots remain unrestricted between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. on Monday through Friday and all day on Saturday and Sunday, Parking and Transportation has tightened restrictions on a few of the most convenient lots, including the lot next to Ruffner Hall and adjacent to the Dell basketball courts, which is now restricted to faculty and staff permits at all times.
Students may take their chances parking in a restricted lot. While the lucky might elude citations, University Parking and Transportation officials are usually out in full force, making it difficult for students to avoid getting caught. A first-time violation will result only in a warning, and violators are given one full year from the date of their warning before their record is wiped clean. Further violations following the receipt of a warning are subject to citations, with fines ranging from $25 to $100. These fines can prove costly for University students as they add up.
The reality is that, though it is inconvenient for most, there is little space available to build or add student parking to commuter lots that have direct access to academic buildings. According to Rebecca White, director of Parking and Transportation, often faculty and staff members themselves are not able to obtain permits required to park in these lots, which are assigned by waiting list. Instead they must park at either U-Hall or the Emmet/Ivy garage. There are currently 1,850 faculty and staff members holding permits for these lots, compared to 1,150 students.
Logistical implications make it improbable that the University will ever be able to afford large-scale, long-term parking accommodations near academic buildings for students. However, there is a possibility of making available more accessible, short-term parking. Parking in the Central Grounds parking garage, especially during peak hours, quickly becomes costly for faculty, staff and students who need to spend only a few minutes on Grounds. Parking and Transportation could alleviate this problem by providing more metered spaces at various locations around Grounds. This would allow students to run into buildings to turn in assignments without walking for 20 minutes or risking parking violations. During her Student Council presidency, Daisy Lundy worked with Parking and Transportation to increase the number of metered spots in the B1 lot behind New Cabell Hall from 3 to 6, also adding a few near Clark Hall. Those that were located near O-Hill dining hall were removed when construction began last year, leaving limited options for anyone needing to park in that area, though 15 metered spaces should be restored to the area by spring, according to White.
Still, there is room to add more metered spaces outside of residence halls and other buildings, as well as in restricted lots, for convenient, short-term parking. By providing more access to metered spots near academic and administrative buildings where parking already exists, Grounds would becomemore accessible to students who rely on their cars.
Todd Rosenbaum's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at trosenbaum@cavalierdaily.com.
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