JON HELGASON

Despite claims of a lack of spaces, Zone 1 lots south of campus are being left half full. Although students with Zone 1 permits can use this lot, which is across the street from the Student Recreation Center, people without parking permits can establish carpools, where three or more people come to campus together in a single car and split the cost of a permit.

Tuesday October 9, 2001

New carpool program allows three people to register for one permit

With thousands of students on waiting lists for campus parking, other options are available for those commuting to campus, a UA official said yesterday.

Mike Delahanty, operations manager for Parking and Transportation Services, said students without on-campus parking permits have several options for traveling to campus, including a new carpool program implemented this school year.

The carpool program requires that at least three people register for a single carpool permit. All members in the carpool will be allowed to park their cars on campus, but only one permit will be issued for the entire group.

"The carpool program adds an incentive to reduce trips and exhaust pollution," Delahanty said.

Students may also use the visitor parking in garages or metered spaces. The maximum charge for visitor parking is $6 a day.

For the use of parking meters, Parking and Transportation Services can provide a "cash key" to which students may load money. When the key is inserted into a meter, a dollar at a time is subtracted from the key.

Phillip Clarke, a management information systems freshman, said he did not receive a parking permit and pays daily to park in the Tyndall Avenue Garage.

"I drive to campus Monday through Friday, and it costs about 4$ a day to park in the garage," he said. "It's costing more than the price of a permit."

Another option, Delahanty said, is the purchase of a yearly SunTran bus pass.

"If students buy a U-Pass, the department subsidizes the cost," he said. U-Passes cost $70 for a semester.

Delahanty said students could also purchase an off-campus parking permit through the city of Tucson.

The city's street parking program stretches from East Eighth Street to North Lester Street and as far west as North Fourth Avenue.

Karen Miller, parking programs coordinator for the City of Tucson's Department of Transportation, said the department has 325 total parking spaces and will add 171 more spaces July 2002.

Miller said all spaces are currently the same price but in July the spaces will be priced based on distance from campus.

The parking spaces closest to campus will cost more than those farther from the university.

"The program helps students by providing them with permanent parking spaces that the city can provide," she said. "Next July, students can purchase cheaper permits further from campus or go out even further for free."

Miller said the department surveys streets near campus that can be used by the program. The department also receives input from neighborhood residents regarding the possibility of permit-required parking near their homes.

"Most residents approve of the parking requiring a permit because it lessens traffic in the area," she said.

Miller said the program prevents traffic congestion because people no longer circle the block in search of parking.

She said some residents pay for parking permits in front of their own homes.

The city's street parking program runs Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.