Parking Committee Update

by Ben McCoy

The Academic Senate Special Committee on Transportation and Parking was appointed in June of 1999 in response to growing faculty concern regarding escalating parking fees and the increasing practice of replacing existing parking lots, which had already paid for from parking fee revenues, with expensive multi-level parking structures. The Committee was given the charge “to investigate matters related to the availability and cost of campus parking and to make recommendations to the Senate regarding appropriate strategies aimed at securing convenient and affordable campus parking for all faculty, staff and students who have need for it.” Although commissioned to present its final report to the Academic Senate in the fall of 2000, the Committee has issued an interim report, providing some details on their investigations and findings, and putting forth a collection of principles and recommendations intended for immediate consideration by the Academic Senate.

The interim report lists five recommendations:

1. A moratorium should be declared on parking fee increases through June 2001, in order to allow faculty, staff, and students the opportunity to systematically review and discuss policies and plans of the Administration regarding parking and transportation on the UCD campus.

2. Budgets for capital construction should include replacement costs for any parking facilities and spaces removed by construction, or that have to be temporarily constructed because of building projects. Continuing projects such as the campus Center for Performing Arts should be included. In that specific case, the fund raising campaign should be expanded to cover the entire project, including the parking that the Center would require as a major regional venue for artistic events. Campus employees should not be asked to pay twice for capital costs of parking facilities.

3. A transportation and parking impact analysis should be required for each capital construction project that is embodied in the five-year planning document of the campus. The Academic Senate Divisional Committee on Academic Planning and Budget Review should review each analysis.

4. Campus Administration should investigate the financing of parking facilities on the campus of CSU, Sacramento, and neighboring community colleges. A study should determine how those institutions are able to provide parking for much lower fees than are charged, or projected to be charged, on the Davis campus. The Administration should report its findings to the Academic Senate.

5. The Divisional Academic Senate should adopt legislation that fixes responsibility systematically to review campus parking problems and policies by creating a Joint Standing Committee (DDB 30) on Transportation and Parking. That Committee should include representatives from all impacted campus constituencies (faculty, Academic Federation, UCD Staff Assembly, and students), and report annually to their various constituencies including the Academic Senate Representative Assembly.