In anticipation of parking getting tighter both on and off
campus, UCLA Parking Services has begun making some adjustments,
and officials say more are likely on the way.
Parking officials said they have changed hourly parking rates in
some campus lots in an attempt to ease traffic congestion. They are
also planning on trying to accommodate more students in on-campus
lots.
Earlier this month, Los Angeles police said students who live in
Westwood Village will be ticketed for parking in such a manner that
their cars jut out over the sidewalk, an illegal practice known as
“apron parking.”
This rule has largely gone unenforced in past years, but now it
may result in a serious shortage of parking availability.
Renee Fortier, director of UCLA Transportation Services, said
Parking Services is aware of this problem and is making
arrangements to accommodate displaced students in on-campus
lots.
She encouraged students to apply for winter quarter parking by
the Oct. 27 deadline.
Parking Services has also tried to even out the parking
distribution on campus.
At the beginning of this year, the cost of parking in Lot 6
jumped from $8 for four hours to $9 for three hours.
Fortier said Parking Services increased the rates in Lot 6
because it was too crowded and officials wanted to encourage
drivers to park in other lots. She said rates were simultaneously
lowered in other campus parking areas, including Lot 11.
“We wanted to encourage turnover (of cars),” she
said.
Fortier said the rate changes have had the desired effect of
easing traffic in more heavily used parking structures.
“There are usually at least a few spots left for visitors
every day,” Fortier said.
Transportation Services may continue to change parking rates in
order to reflect demand in some other parking areas on campus, but
it has not decided which lots will be affected.
Fortier said on-campus parking is currently at 97 percent
capacity.
Deisy Mendoza, a fourth-year sociology student who parks on
campus, said she thinks campus parking is too expensive, especially
in lots where drivers pay a flat rate.
“It doesn’t add up,” she said. “You
could be here four hours and pay for the full day.”
According to P.C. Zai, facilities commissioner for the
Undergraduate Students Association Council, UCLA has an agreement
with the city of Los Angeles to limit the amount of available
parking spaces on campus.
Zai said the university is currently looking for ways to cushion
the effect of apron-parking enforcement with minimal penalties for
students.
In order to accommodate the needs of the estimated 250 affected
students, Transportation Services and student leaders are currently
working to find other parking solutions.
Fortier noted that Parking Services has not placed any students
on a waiting list in the past few quarters.
She added that all qualified students who applied for parking
were granted a spot.
But Alejandra Del Gara, a fourth-year political science student,
said she did not think the eligibility rules for parking permits
were fair and that some students who deserve parking were unfairly
disqualified.
“I just think they don’t investigate enough,”
Del Gara said.
According to a statement released by Zai’s office on Oct.
22, Transportation Services is considering opening up parking on
Tiverton Avenue near the old medical center. The statement also
said Transportation Services may open up more spots in Lots 32 and
36 in hopes of accommodating a total of 100 more students.
Fortier said that Parking Services was making efforts to
accommodate students in the Weyburn Terrace lot, where officials
were considering using a stacked-parking pilot program. Stacked
parking is when cars purposely block one another in order to
maximize available space.
But Zai said it was unlikely that every student displaced by
apron-parking enforcement will be accommodated because the city has
been unwilling to allot more space for parking.
“The city of Los Angeles has not been very responsive to
the needs of students,” Zai said.