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news:
CSULB parking
shortage looms
By Chan Tran
On-line Forty-Niner
As a graduate student
studying Kinesiology, Bahran Hojreh worries about grades and
deadlines on a regular basis. He never thought that finding
parking would also take up a big chunk of his daily life.
Hojreh purchased
a parking pass during his first semester at Cal State Long
Beach last year. On the first day of school, Hojreh drove
through three parking lots without finding a single available
space. In an act of frustration he parked in the meters and
got the refund for his pass on the same day.
"I'd never
buy a parking pass again," Hojreh said. "Hell no.
I'd rather park in the streets."
Hojreh spends the
majority of his time hunting for the best spots along Palos
Verde and occasionally shelling out the $1.75 for a one-day
pass, an act still irks him.
Students such as
Hojreh are not rare at CSULB.
A looming shortage
of parking spaces threatens students' access to classes on
a daily basis at CSULB as campus officials struggle to squeeze
more students into dwindling spaces.
CSULB has 13,000
parking spaces available for 33,000 spring 2001 students --
the largest enrollment in school history, said Ignacio Carillo,
associate director of parking and transportation. With faculty
and school employees utilizing 2,000 of those spaces, the
actual amount available for student parking pass owners is
about 10,000. Less than 30 percent of students on campus have
spaces available for them.
"We definitely
need more spaces," Carillo said. "That is the main
concern."
For the 20 lots
on campus, only 11 are available to accommodate students during
the day. Faculty parking takes up the remaining nine lots.
The lots with the most traffic are Lot 11 on Palo Verde and
Lot 14 in West campus, both with 2,000 spaces each and the
parking structure, which has 2,800 spaces.
About 18,000 students
purchase parking passes per semester - 10,000 through the
mail and 8,000 through the parking center, according to parking
officials. This means that CSULB is overselling 8,000 passes
for non-available spaces.
"Students
come to school at different hours," Carillo said. "We're
hoping that the difference in their schedules will provide
open spots throughout the day."
Faced with the
dilemma of whether or not to shell out $63 dollars for semester-long
passes or park in the streets, some students choose the latter.
"I park on
Palos Verde," said Hojreh, who feels lucky to have morning
classes. "By the middle of the day, you won't find a
spot anywhere else."
Students also share
spaces with carpoolers, who take up 700 spaces and handicap
decal owners who have 200 spaces. An additional 200 meters
cost 25 cents for 15 minutes.
"It's always
a pain," said Nicole Broke, a junior business major who
comes to school at 7:30 a.m. to beat the morning rush. "I
could easily spend 20 minutes in the parking lot just looking
for a spot."
For Baltzar Fierro,
a junior health science major, the easiest way is to avoid
the hassle is to drive less.
"I carpool
with a friend and have him drop me off," Fierro said.
"If I have to come to school I usually buy a one-day
pass."
In a 1999 Student
Needs Assessment and Priority Survey (SNAPS) of students across
the Cal State University system, parking was rated last in
quality among all campus services. SNAPS is conducted randomly
on campuses and administered every four to five years. The
report found that making parking easier is most important
for students in the CSU system to achieve their academic goals.
Only 27.2 percent of CSULB students found the quality of parking
on their campus as either good or excellent.
"Parking is
getting tighter at CSULB," said Tom Bass, director of
parking and facilities. "But it's not so much that we
need just more parking, but rather more convenient parking."
The concrete plan
is to lease the Long Beach Veteran Affairs parking lots in
the fall semester and allow students with regular permits
to use the spaces, according to CSULB officials. The available
lots would provide 500 to 600 more spaces, which would be
more convenient for students in areas near the liberal arts
and the Macintosh buildings.
However, campus
officials are most worried about the first six weeks of the
fall semester, usually the most hectic period of parking during
the school year, Carillo said.
During the same
time last year parking was routed to the field on campus and
the red curb near the Japanese Garden for about four days
during the first week, Carillo said. "Students come earlier
than anticipated during the first couple of weeks of school
and stay longer to find classes."
CSULB fares poorly
in comparison to other University of California and CSU campuses
with implementing a long-term plan to meet the demands of
parking shortages.
University of California
at Irvine, which has two parking structures and 20 lots, finished
building a third structure that will open in the fall, providing
18,000 additional spaces, said Michael Delo, director of parking
and transportation.
The campus started
construction last July and expects to be able to accommodate
its 21,000 expected enrollment, also the largest in its history,
according to Delo. This past year UCI officials struggled
to fit 17,000 parking pass owners into 11,000 spaces.
"The campus
in its long-range development had already designated sites
for structures when necessary," Delo said. "Most
of them are surface parking lots now."
Officials at CSULB
say although some spaces may be far for students to walk to
class, it is very unusual to find no spaces available. The
majority of the issue is whether or not a student wants to
walk five minutes to class or sit in the parking lot for 15
minutes waiting for a spot, Carillo said.
"Most students
come at about 10 to 11 a.m.," Carillo said. "That
stream usually lasts until about noon and then it generally
dies down during the late evenings."
In spring 2000
the CSU Parking Services group conducted a customer satisfaction
survey of more than 10,000 faculty, staff, and students on
selected campuses to assess the level of satisfaction with
parking services and operations. CSULB was among the top-rated
campuses for nine out of the 18 categories, according to the
survey.
However, 42 percent
were dissatisfied with the availability of parking for special
campus events and approximately 38 percent were dissatisfied
with the process for appealing parking citations.
The majority of
the problem occurs during special events such as filming on
campus and career development day activities, said Armando
Contreras, executive assistant to President Robert Maxson.
"Events parking
is a nightmare," said Brian Miller, a senior History
major. "They close off half the lots and then expect
you find your own routes."
Miller, who was
using crutches due to an injury, tried to hitchhike a ride
from a maintenance car to get to class.
"This isn't
fun," he said staring up and down the street. He added
that he has purchased semester parking for the past four years
and considers himself to be an expert on student parking procedures.
"There's no
guarantee that you'll get a spot," Miller said. "On
average I spend 15 minutes just driving around. You want to
go from lot to lot until there's just enough time to get to
class. If not then you have to go for the meters or try parking
in the streets."
Still, CSULB fares
better than most CSU and UC campuses for overall prices and
parking availability.
At UCI the current
$81 for parking passes will increase to $96 in the fall. One-day
passes will increase from $4 to $5, Delo said.
Cal State Northridge,
which will become a year-round school in 2002, has 7,000 spaces
for about 26,000 students, who are mostly commuters, said
Tom Tindall, facilities manager at CSUN. The campus is still
in construction since the 1994 earthquake and more than 200
emergency trailers still have to be moved out by summer.
"We've not
recovered for the past six years," Tindall said.
Officials at CSULB
cite good shuttle services and cleanliness of the lots as
some of the major points for student satisfaction.
"We have well-maintained
lots," Carillo said. "Students also use the shuttles
which run all day."
Currently, the
Parking & Transportation Services Department is conducting
a new customer satisfaction survey for students, faculty and
staff members at 14 campuses, including CSULB. This year marks
the first time that the survey will be administered online
for students, according to Don Coan, director of the Office
of Institutional Research.
The survey is similar
to one given in spring 2000, where respondents give answers
on varying degree of satisfaction from "very satisfied"
to "very dissatisfied." Results are expected to
be available in October.
Some students find
no need for another survey and seem unaffected by the parking
shortage.
"Parking seems
fine to me," said Sarah Barz, a junior interior design
student. "I don't have any problems with it at all."
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