Due to unexpected changes in the times that students and faculty with campus parking permits utilize the Peavine and Michael St. parking decks, Emory's Transportation and Parking Services has changed some of its parking practices this semester, according to parking officials.
Cumulatively, Director of Parking and Transportation Adele Clements and Associate Vice President Lisa Underwood have never seen such ongoing changes like the ones they observed this year, they said. After the normal weeklong Labor Day rush, they said they noticed an unusual and persistent pattern: a lack of vacant spaces and an increase in complaints beyond the expected temporary surge.
Compared to the situation at Peavine, the situation at the Michael St. parking garage was slightly more strenuous and challenging during the week of Sept. 9, they said in a joint interview.
"It's one of those things that goes well most of the time so people don't think about it," Underwood said.
The parking services reassigned students and employees who volunteered about two weeks ago, and they converted several visitor parking spots into permit parking spots, resolving the issue, according to Clements.
Earlier in September, parking deck attendants were required to hand out passes for cars that had to park elsewhere, but they have not had to do so in about a week, after the short-term changes the department implemented.
Also, in the last two weeks, complaints have subsided, they said.
"It's been coming together," Underwood said. "I do think it's fully resolved now, for the most part. We've got a little bit of a straggling thing in Peavine but we have a good plan."
The two hypothesized that the recent credit-hour changes have caused students to park in the parking decks longer and more often than usual, since the Department of Parking and Transportation did not distribute more parking permits than they did in previous years.
"There is not a parking shortage," Underwood said. "It's really a simple parking allocation problem."
Compared to last year, Clements said, a higher percentage of students are using their permits. Additionally, student's arrival and departure times have changed since last year.
"We tend to have to put together the puzzle after ... we see the impact on parking demand," Underwood said.
Sorting out the puzzle is not easy for the parking department. Underwood said that the division parcels parking permits after careful analysis of students, Healthcare employees, faculty and others' arrival and departure times.
Since the largest variable is the student group, they said, a shift in the way students use their permits has a larger impact on the parking demand.
"Students have always been the group with the largest turnover," Clements said. "They go to class and leave. They don't usually stay. [Now,] they are coming and staying."
Michael St. and Peavine have similar user group ratios, they said, which may explain the nearly identical increase in demand.
Clements, who handles the data aspects of the department, said it is important to figure out which user group is experiencing changes in order to reallocate permits appropriately.
"Campus is so dynamic," Underwood said. "We always try to be as agile as possible and be ready to react to surprises ... and hopefully react quickly enough that we minimize the inconvenience to our customers."
At this point, Clements and Underwood said that given these changes, a reexamination and subsequent alteration of permit allocations is necessary for January.
"We have fixed the short-term problem," Underwood said. "The next step is to go back to the big-model and ask, 'Okay, now we have a new reality. So what do we need to change permanently?'"
Underwood said that illegal, permit-less parkers are probably not the root of the issue.
"Overall ... I don't feel like there is an overwhelming number of violators," Underwood said, considering the number of tickets her department has issued.
"I think we have probably the same violation patterns as we had last year. I don't think that is a significant problem."
She did say that there is always a chance that the lack of vacancy spots may be because of people parking illegally.
"That is always a possibility," she said. "We work really hard to try to stay ahead of that kind of thing."
According to Underwood, there is an enforcement program in place, which includes a license plate recognition system and a system of checking permits in all the decks in the middle of the night, when many students leave their unauthorized vehicles in the parking decks.
Underwood said she understands that people jump to the conclusion that there are not enough parking spaces because drivers are parking their cars illegally.
Regardless of the complaint, Underwood and Clements said they encourage more feedback from their customers. "The goal is to use the parking assets as efficiently as possible," Underwood said. "We just want people to get where they're going.
College junior Michelle York said she recently observed a "significant decrease in the number of available spots" in Peavine.
"On days I have shown up [around 10 a.m.], I have generally been unable to find a spot," she wrote in an email to the Wheel. "All of my friends have experienced this as well. I've found that if it is after 9:30 a.m., it is almost better to walk from my apartment because you are not guaranteed to find a spot, even on the uppermost level." York said she believes the department should either "dramatically decrease" the cost of parking in order to justify the lack of spots or build another lot on campus.
College senior Misha Sharp also said she feels it is more difficult to park in Peavine this year.
"I've driven around for [at a maximum] 20 minutes looking for a parking spot in both Peavine garages before giving up," she wrote in an email to the Wheel. "[However], the Emory parking staff are very nice and helpful when asked."
–By Karishma Mehrotra
Photo by James Crissman
