Zone 1 changes, new student fee expected

As of fall 2005, students may need to plan their transportation needs with a little more care if they plan on riding the CatTran or obtaining a parking permit.

Parking and Transportation Services scheduled several changes to take effect this upcoming fall for Zone 1 permits,

lot-specific parking spaces and CatTran shuttle service, including a student fee.

More than 300 new Zone 1 spaces are going to be added around campus this summer, most of which will be just north of the Eller College of Management, said Patrick J. Kass, director of Parking and Transportation Services.

After analyzing usage surveys of Zone 1 parking, PTS decided lots located south of East Sixth Street are not being used enough.

To relieve the demand for Zone 1 permits and reduce rates of overselling permits, these lots will be eliminated and turned into an entirely new zone, Kass said.

"By removing the lots south of Sixth Street, we hope this will allow us to better manage Zone 1 parking across campus," Kass said.

Construction on campus also caused the loss of a majority of lot-specific parking. In order to help compensate, Kass said two Zone 1 lots are also being converted to lot-specific parking.

One lot will be located east of North Cherry Avenue off of East First Street and the other at the Arizona Health Sciences Center, 1501 N. Campbell Ave.

"Giving people a better idea of where they are going to park will help reduce travel time, waiting time and even vehicle emissions, all which is a goal of our department," Kass said.

Kass said CatTran has also seen a large increase in traffic on several of its major routes on campus and across Tucson, which has called for some major revisions to operational schedules and fees.

"We receive no funding from the university or from the state. All of our revenue comes from permits, visitor parking and citations," Kass said. "The cost to operate one bus for one year is around $120,000."

Because of increased traffic from off campus, several routes have become so overloaded that permit holders have been unable to catch a shuttle.

As a resolution to this issue, not all CatTran lines will be a free service. All routes located on campus will remain free of charge. However, lines coming from off campus like the Orange and USA Express routes will have a $25 fee per semester.

All passengers who have permits to park in lots the CatTran caters to will have to purchase a boarding pass to ride the bus, Kass said.

Kass said lot 9008, 315 S. Plumer Ave., on the CatTran's Mauve route will also be expanded to accommodate passengers from lot 9002, 2603 E. First St.

With this expansion, both the Yellow and Copper Routes will be eliminated. In order to compensate for the loss of the Copper Route, plans exist to increase the Teal Route to better assist riders, Kass said.

"Rider surveys were conducted along the Copper Route and it was decided that with the second bus and extension to Sixth Street on Teal and no changes to the Purple route, it should compensate for the loss of Copper," Kass said.

A slight increase in costs for daily visitor parking is also expected, Kass said. Hourly rates will remain the same but the maximum daily rate will go from $6 to $7. Late fees for parking citations will also go up an extra $5. No increase in parking permit fees is planned for the upcoming year.