According to data presented by the Parking and Transportation Office, the percent of student residents has reached an all-time high. Fall 2019 figures demonstrate that over 40 percent of students require parking accommodations (Xavier Delcid/Photo Editor).
The Geneseo Parking and Transportation Services office has a number of projects in the planning stages to improve parking opportunities on campus. Currently on its radar, the office is focusing on parking issues on the north side of campus, expanding the gravel lot next to the eGarden complex, parking compliance issues and looking for ways to meet the campus’ sustainability goals.
The office, while confined by the infrastructure of the campus, is aware of concerns both students and faculty have regarding limited and restricted parking as well as ticket penalties and plans to respond accordingly.
Parking and Transportation Administrator Beth Adams said that the number one priority for the office is addressing the lack of parking in North Village. The percent of resident students with parking permits has reached an all-time high in the last 10 years, with fall 2019 records indicating that just over 40 percent of resident students purchased a permit for their car.
In order to track where students and faculty are parking, the parking office conducts parking lot usage studies by collecting data on the number of cars in each lot, three times a day.
“It is reflected in our data studies that North campus resident lots are reaching capacity at times Monday through Thursday,” Adams said. “We are looking at different ways to accommodate people who need to bring a vehicle to campus.”
There are 1,156 total regular resident spaces available on campus and the parking office cuts off permit sales at 1,150 students. There is currently no separation between permits for students living on Northside or Southside and students are able to park in the resident lots on either side of campus.
To try and ease some congestion on Northside, however, the office is looking to cap permit sales to Northside residents at 611 permits and Southside residents at 545. Once those numbers are reached, permits restricted to lots Lower U on Southside and S next to the stadium would be offered to other resident students.
Parking and Transportation Services’ only plan, as of right now, to add additional parking on campus involves the gravel lot connected to an access road adjacent to the eGarden and across from Monroe Hall. The multi-year proposed plan includes expanding the lot to provide another 20 spaces for resident students and 19 spaces for faculty and staff during weekday hours. The lot would eventually be paved, and light poles would be installed.
Another main focus of the office involves issues of parking compliance. Most of the complaints that the office receives concern a vehicle being parked in the wrong lot and Adams clarified that those complaints are coming from both staff and students.
To help curb this problem, the parking committee was considering a proposal with three components: increasing the parking violation fines, introducing the Barnacle parking immobilization device and reducing the number of tickets a driver needs to receive before their car is
Most violations would see a $10 fine increase if the proposal passes. The Barnacle would begin as a one-year pilot program for the parking office and involves attaching a yellow device that covers the windshield and requires the owner to pay a fine before the Barnacle can be removed. Finally, a driver would only need to receive six tickets instead of 10 before their car can be subject to towing or a Barnacle.
“These are all things that we haven’t decided we’re going to do this. We’re getting feedback, we’re taking what steps we have to do to see if this is something that’s going to work for the community,” Adams said.
Adams explained that her office isn’t able to make changes on its own. First, the parking and transportation advisory committee must submit a recommendation, then consult with the stakeholders and lastly, bring it to the college administration for their approval.
Geneseo’s Student Senate has also recently made parking issues a focus of their efforts. Kaitlyn Bertleff, the Student Association Vice President and chair of the Student Senate, outlined the four committees within the Student Senate: Academic Rights and Advancements, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Campus and Residential Life and Students Rights and Affairs. The Campus and Residential Life committee took on the parking concerns.
“[Parking] has come up a lot and seeing as how Student Senate does harbor a place for students to voice their concerns and desire to work on solutions … [we] took that on to look into various solutions to alleviate some of the concerns that students have,” Bertleff said. “It’s obviously difficult seeing as how parking is always expensive and hard to work with what we have but it’s something that we do try to brainstorm every so often.”
Similarly to Adams, Bertleff acknowledged that the biggest problem for resident students is parking on North campus. The two lots closest to the residence halls, E and R, fill up quickly which sends students to lots further away—or even across campus to Southside.
While Student Senate doesn’t have a direct say or vote in parking changes, senators have attended the parking committee meetings to communicate the group’s ideas.
“That’s where we discuss the solution that we have recommended as Student Senate and then collaborate going from there. While we don’t have any direct connection to it, we open up that connective conversation,” Bertleff said.
The only concrete plans for the parking office are to expand the gravel lot from the access road. All other ideas still need to be approved or confirmed before they can move forward with implementation. Some of these ideas, as others have before, may not pass the college administration or gain enough student support, according to Adams.
“If it’s not going to be supported by the community, that’s fine. If people don’t see it that way, then it’s not something we have to move forward with,” Adams said.