DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat In a full Zone 1 parking lot behind Arizona Sonora Residence Hall, 910 E. Fifth St., a reserved carpool spot sits empty. Parking and Transportation has sold 30 of 50 available permits for the carpool spaces.

Officials at Parking and Transportation Services believe program will grow next year

The new UA Carpool Parking Program has been less utilized than expected, but Parking and Transportation Services hopes increased knowledge will lead to more students buying permits for next year.

The program started last August, and only about 30 groups currently use the program.

The carpooling program offers reserved spaces in surface lots or parking garages for the price of a regular permit, said Gary Thomson, associate director of Parking and Transportation Services.

Each member of the carpool is also issued 12 daily scratch-off Zone 1 parking permits per year.

The permits are to be used on days when members cannot carpool.

Fifty spaces throughout the campus are allotted for carpool permits, meaning that at least 40 percent of the available carpool spaces on campus are always available.

But Thomson said he expects the program to grow. Although he didn't know how many people have applied for a carpool permit for next year, most people enrolled in the program have renewed their applications.

"We are hoping it will grow; the important thing is getting the information out," Thomson said. "People see the signs in lots and want to know more, the program sells itself."

Once the number of groups gets to 50, PTS will look into making carpool-only lots near Lot 3039, by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, 1230 E. Speedway Blvd., and another lot by the Main Library, 1510 E. University Blvd., Thomson said.

If a group is started after the beginning of the school year, it will be charged a prorated amount for the permit.

Some students say that information about the program is not as readily accessible as it could be.

"One thing they need to do to is tell more people about it; a lot of people don't know it's out there," said Kristi Woolever, a music education sophomore.

While Woolever cannot find people in her area of town to commute with, she does not necessarily like the idea of a carpool matching service.

"I think I would kind of have to know a person before getting into a car with them," Woolever said.

But others think the environmental impact of the program outweighs what some consider an inconvenience.

"I think it is really good," said Jennifer Winston, a senior majoring in French. "It saves the environment and parking spaces."

One member of the carpool is designated as the Point of Contact, who sets up appointments with PTS staff members to choose their spaces.

"The good thing about the program is that it is on a case-by-case basis, there is no waiting list," Thomson said.

To become part of the carpool program, call 626-PARK or go to the Customer Relations Section of PTS in the University Services Building, 888 N. Euclid Ave.