The number of students on the parking permit waitlist decreased from 813 in fall 2015 to 309 in fall 2016, despite a decrease in the number of spots reserved for students.
UCLA Transportation attributes the decrease to a push for alternative transportation programs, including public transportation subsidies, vanpool and carpool services.
UCLA Transportation has been funding alternative transportation programs since 1984 partly with revenue from parking fines and tickets. For the 2015-2016 fiscal year, UCLA Transportation made $555,100 in net revenue on parking fines.
Penny Menton, director of communications and commuter services at UCLA said UCLA Transportation focused on greater marketing and outreach for alternative transportation programs and improving the accessibility of these programs this year.
Lisa Koerbling, director of parking services for UCLA Transportation, said UCLA Transportation reached out to campus partners, such as the Graduate Students Association, to connect with the students who previously had no connection with transportation.
“We provided personalized assistance and walked through processes and steps and options,” Menton said. “It helped students understand how UCLA’s system worked and how they could do it. It removed barriers that were there before.”
[Related: Survey finds parking permit shortage affects student experiences]
Menton said between 2015 and 2016, UCLA Transportation made alternative transportation more accessible by educating students about resources and options available in UCLA’s current system.
For instance, UCLA Transportation enacted the informal first-quarter free program, in which UCLA Transportation provides a free transit pass to any UCLA student or employee. UCLA Transportation previously subsidized the transit passes at 50 percent for the first quarter.
About 1,084 graduate and transfer students signed up for the first-quarter free program and volunteered not to apply for parking in fall of 2016. Menton said UCLA plans to formalize the first-quarter free program because of its success this year.
Priyamvada Mahesh, an architecture graduate student, said she registered for the first-quarter free program because she has no car, so she relies heavily on the transit to get to campus. She heard about the program via email as soon as she enrolled as a graduate student.
Bret Bumerts, a graduate student in business, said he heard about the first-quarter free program when applying for a parking pass, but he chose not use it.
“To me, the time factor (for commuting) is most important, and the amount of time the transit takes to get to campus wasn’t worth it,” he said.
Responses to UCLA Transportation’s other education efforts have been mixed. Some graduate students said there has been little to no change in the way UCLA Transportation interacts and engages with them.
[Throwback: Cheaper Metro bus passes may be on the way for UCLA students in August]
Michael Skiles, president of the Graduate Student Association, said he thinks the waitlist may have gotten shorter because students are not able to park near their work.
He added the only thing UCLA has done to reach out to graduate students is to attend a GSA meeting, which they have done in the past.
“They certainly haven’t engaged with us on any serious publicity campaign,” Skiles said. “As far as I can tell, the public awareness and accessibility of these programs has stayed the same as other years.”
Drake Smith, president of the Biological Student Council, said he had heard about UCLA Transportation’s new first-quarter free program in an email, and many of his constituents used UCLA Transportation’s 50 percent subsidy on bus pases.
Skiles said he had not heard of the program and had not been contacted by anyone at Transportation about promoting it to his constituents, but thinks it would be a good introduction to commuter programs for students.
Contributing reports from Emi Nakahara, Daily Bruin contributor.