MIKE CHIEN Attendant Marvin McDaniels
helps a customer at the parking kiosk on Westwood Boulevard.
Parking rates will see another rise.
By Arj Arjunan
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA Transportation Services will raise parking fees as of July
1 to help offset operational costs incurred by the department.
Daily rates will increase from $6 to $7. Monthly yellow permits
will rise from $48 to $52; blue permits from $60 to $64; and X
permits will increase from $84 to $91.
The fee hike will help pay for the department’s
outstanding debt and upkeep of current and future construction
projects, said Mark Stocki, director of Transportation
Services.
While the fee increase will mean more money for the department,
it does not sit well with many commuters. Rob Sarkar, who graduated
from UCLA School of Law in the fall, said parking is a major
concern for many graduate students.
“Raising the daily rate is really bad because people who
live close to UCLA will end up bearing the burden when they
can’t get monthly permits,” he said.
Transportation Services awards parking permits on the basis of
proximity to campus, with students living further away receiving
priority on the monthly passes, which costs less than a daily pass
for those who must be on campus on most days of the week.
According to Stocki, Transportation Services receives between
10,000 and 13,000 applications each year for close to 7,000 student
parking spaces on campus.
Construction of a $47.5 million parking garage under the
Intramural Field will add 1,500 spaces to the university’s
parking facilities at an average of $31,333 per space. The Medical
Center will bear the cost of about 700 of those spaces to
compensate for the demolition of Lot 14, which was done to make
room for the Westwood Replacement Hospital, Stocki said.
When Transportation Services presented its plans to the
Undergraduate Students Association Council on Jan. 15, they were
met with little opposition from the council, said USAC general
representative David Dahle.
He said that council members voiced little opposition to the fee
raise, not because they agreed with it, but because they felt the
administration would not listen to them anyway, Dahle said.
USAC members have little power when it comes to big issues like
parking and housing because their terms only last one year, he
added.
“We know that they’re major issues for
students,” he said. “It’s frustrating that
council members can’t make a serious difference in those
areas.”
General representative Theo Apostol, who has spent his term
working on parking issues, first found out about the fee increases
at a mid-December meeting with Transportation Services.
USAC members didn’t discuss the issue until after winter
break. When they returned, they discussed a counter-argument to the
parking presentation via e-mail, Apostol said.
Not much has changed since the meeting, since all plans are
still in a hypothetical stage.
Apostol plans to campaign for the BruinGo! free bus rides
program, alternative day permits and increased time on parking
meters.
He said he is unhappy about the fee increase but has not
outlined plans as to how ““ or whether ““ USAC will try
to reduce them. For now, he is trying to schedule another meeting
with Transportation Services.
Meanwhile, Apostol and Stocki agree that more on-campus housing
and parking structures could alleviate the demand for parking
permits.
“The construction of the garage under the IM Field will go
a long way toward addressing our parking needs,” Stocki
said.
More campus housing should also ease the parking crunch, he
added.
“Additional housing will convert some commuters to
on-campus residents,” he said. “That should ease
traffic and open up spaces to our applicants.”
Transportation Services also funds vanpool, subsidized parking
and campus shuttle programs to improve the commute for UCLA
students, Stocki said.
“Transportation Services minimizes the increase in fees in
accordance with the needs of the department,” Stocki said.
“We don’t use higher rates as a negotiating
tactic.”
Reports from Marcelle Richards, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.