Stoutonia

Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: News

Media Credit: JoLynn Rose An unfortunate car is caught parking illegally and ticketed

Media Credit: JoLynn Rose An authentic UW-Stout parking permit

Media Credit: JoLynn Rose One of the many Signs distinguishing between campus lots

On-campus parking has been a hot-button issue for students and faculty alike. As the frigid winter months approach, the number of students opting to drive to classes over walking will inevitably increase. Students who purchased parking permits this year are not guaranteed to find convenient spots to park, and those who try to find a meter to park at will have even less of a chance at finding a spot to their liking.

"Purchasing a permit gives you the opportunity to find a spot, but not assurance," said Parking Manager Keith McCarten.
The amount of permits sold depends on extensive research conducted by the parking department.

"We have to sell to the worst case scenario. It is based on a system of peaks and valleys," added McCarten. What this means is that the number of permits sold is determined by how many cars are in the lots at the busiest time of day and at the least busy times of the evening. If a lot is seen at maximum capacity during any time of the day, that lot will be considered to be sold out. More parking spots are available than students think; convenience is the most common complaint.

The University of Wisconsin-Stout has a total of 3,014 parking spots; 1,639 of these are dedicated to resident parking and cost $166 each. Those permits are only sold to students who live on campus. There are 1,026 commuter spots available, and those permits are sold for $125 each. Due to rotating availability of parking spaces, the department is able to sell more than one permit per space. The reason for this is that commuter spots are often used as intermediary stops for many people needing to simply stop at campus due to an increasing availability in the online curriculum. The math works out to being able to sell 1.8 permits per space. There are 86 reserved parking spaces and 73 handicapped spaces. The number of handicapped spaces must be high enough to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Many students wonder why these permits cost so much. One reason for the cost of the permits is the fact that the parking department does not receive any funds from tuition or taxes.
The cost is competitive with the prices that students pay for parking permits in high school, which is something that students are becoming accustomed to as more and more high schools are adopting this policy.

"The department acts like a small business; we are completely self-funded," said McCarten. "The money from parking permits and tickets is meant to expand revenue, not to gain profit."
Parking tickets are another way that the department gains revenue. The cost of each ticket is carefully considered and is in no way an arbitrary amount. The cost of each ticket is meant to deter people from parking illegally, not to cause people to go broke. "We use the cost of parking tickets as a form of negative reinforcement," added McCarten. "The prices are set high enough to create the behavior we desire."

The reason that this year has been especially difficult for students to find convenient parking spots is due to the construction at Jarvis Hall as well as on north campus. The total number of available spots in those lots has been reduced, and permits for north campus are no longer being sold due to a fear of overselling the lot. This reduction in parking spots did not begin with the recent construction. Past building projects have been eliminating parking spots for years. Millennium Hall, Don and Nona Williams Stadium and Jarvis Hall were all built on sites that were former parking lots.

There have been suggestions that a parking structure should be constructed on the UW-Stout campus to accommodate all parking needs. The fact is that a parking ramp would be too costly for the department and is most likely not a viable option for the future.

Research has been conducted at all campuses in the UW-System to determine which campus has the best parking system. "We ranked in the middle, not the worst but not the best," said McCarten. "We are constantly rebuilding our system and making improvements."

The cost of creating one new parking space on campus is approximately $3,000. "The outcome of not paying for parking is that there would be no parking," said Keith. "You pay for parking everywhere you go; there is no such thing as free parking."

Most of the time; parking is paid for indirectly, so people are not used to paying one lump sum to be able to park.
There are plans to make parking-related questions easier to answer. With online expectations growing, a new management system is being prepared to be implemented on the parking Web site. The new system will allow you to pay for your fines and permits online and also search for any past citations. The new system is set to launch by February of 2010.

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