e-mail this page
Printer Friendly Version

Spring semester begins with more parking for all

Parking Structure III

The spring semester begins, as always, with a rush of cars filling the campus. But with the opening of Parking Structure III (PS III), drivers now should have a much easier time finding a place to park.

The increase in spaces will be significant. For student permit holders, there will be an additional 2,490 spaces for a total of 8,898. For faculty/staff permit holders, there will be an additional 310 spaces for a total of 2,004. Additionally, 200 spaces will be used as special function parking (i.e., disabled, convenience, timed, academic), resulting in a net increase of 2,800 parking spaces for campus parking permit holders.

According to Nancy Fox, director of University Transportation & Parking (UTAPS), “the addition of more than 3,000 parking spaces should ease the morning commute and bring the parking relief we have all anticipated.”

Although PS III is designated primarily for students, the rest of the campus community will also see improvements, particularly in Parking Lots 4 and 6, which will now be designated solely for faculty and staff.

These adjustments will not only add parking for all permit holders but will reduce confusion by more clearly identifying areas for student permit holders and address a need for more faculty/staff parking on the east side of campus.

Fox stresses that, “the first two weeks of the semester usually bring more traffic and parked vehicles.” She advises commuters to allow a little extra time to travel to and park on campus. Parking officials also ask that those who were using alternative commute options consider continuing the habit.

One additional service that will be offered by UTAPS on a trial basis is a new “convenience parking” program. For a fee of $3 campus permit holders can have their vehicles parked by a campus attendant when brought to a specific location. The vehicle will be returned to the same location when the driver returns to retrieve it. This service will also be offered to non-permit holders for the $3 fee plus the cost of a daily parking permit. Payment will be accepted in cash only.

“Over the past two years, the campus has responded to our requests for more use of Sac State Commute Choices,” says Fox, “and we thank everyone for that. We hope that commuters will continue to improve the traffic congestion that occurs on campus at times and help to improve the air quality in the Sacramento Region by driving less.”