The preponderance of cars traversing today's Grounds would no doubt surprise the University's founder, even given Mr. Jefferson's aptitude for technological innovation.
The cars are here, though, and with the start of each new school year thousands of Wahoos with wheels return to Grounds and the surrounding neighborhoods.
In competition for primo parking spots with faculty and staff, as well as Charlottesville's year-round residents, the struggle can often be Darwinian in nature.
"Parking and transportation is not something that anybody is going to solve," said Clayton Powers, parking and transportation co-chair of the Student Council Student Life Committee. "You have the University trying to get as little traffic as possible through the actual University Grounds."
If Charlottesville and University officials have their way, however, parking problems will be made perhaps just a tad less painful with a combination of stiffer fines to deter potential illegal parkers and improvements to local public transportation.
Pricey parking
Currently, minor parking violations, such as parking without a permit in University lots, cost drivers only $30, Parking and Transportation Director Rebecca White said. That fine will rise to $40 starting in July in an effort to further dissuade motorists from parking illegally.
"We want to create a disincentive, or rather, an incentive not to get a ticket," White said. "The fee structures are based on recommendations from the [University] parking and transportation committee."
What may come as a surprise to many peeved parkers, though, is that the University's revenue from parking fines has steadily decreased over the past decade.
Ten years ago, the University took in almost $900,000 annually in revenue from parking fines, but in the more recent past that amount has dropped to about $600,000 per year, White said.
"Our goal is to write fewer tickets," she added.
What revenue the University does acquire from tickets is placed into accounts to pay for parking garage and lot construction, in addition to helping offset P & T personnel costs.
For many students, however, the benefits accrued from parking citations are little consolation for the hassle of dealing with repeated tickets.
Third-year College student Kimberly Riddle, a Brown College resident, said her experiences with P & T have been less than pleasant.
"We can park in the service vehicle spot [at Brown] if we call P & T," Riddle said. "They're supposed to let you park there for 30 minutes. A couple times, I've called and the woman I've spoken with has said, no, you can't do that. I parked anyways and didn't get a ticket."
Riddle was less fortunate, though, when she left her car running on Newcomb Road for eight minutes to bring supplies to her room and was ticketed. She currently is appealing the ticket for the second time and has yet to learn her fate.
According to White, secondary appeals of tickets are adjudicated independently by a committee comprised of a professor, staff member and a student.
Cutting cars
City and University officials agree that encouraging more use of public transportation and walking will go farther than anything else to solve Charlottesville's parking crunch.
"From the City's point of view, we don't see the problem through parking," Mayor David E. Brown said. "We see the problem through cars and traffic. The further away from campus that students live, the more traffic that is generated on City streets."
Brown said the City would like to see more students living in higher-density housing closer to Grounds.
Officials anticipate improved bus service could also help cut down on unnecessary driving.
White said she would like to see the Charlottesville Transit Service provide incentives for staff and faculty members to take busses to work.
"We're really hoping for ridership programs on the [City] bus service," she said. "We're in discussions about where our routes overlap. Where UTS can provide the service compared to CTS. Where are our transfer policies between routes."
One thing not on the agenda to improve Charlottesville's parking debacle is the construction of a plethora of additional spots, although University officials are considering building a new garage on Culbreth Road to accommodate new arts buildings slated for construction at the end of the decade.
Nonetheless, as sure as new parking spaces are built, cars will fill them.
And, according to Powers, P & T will be responsive to student, faculty and staff concerns as the University continues to grow and its parking spaces become more and more scarce.
"They really do a great job of responding to the student need," he said. "The people who I work with over there have been very, very responsive. They try their best."
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