By As the new academic year kicks off, the parking and transportation department has introduced several changes, including higher semester permit prices, an additional overflow lot and updated policies for electric vehicle (EV) charging.
In an email sent to students by Parking and Transportation Services, the department detailed a number of key changes to parking policies to be enforced during the 2024-25 academic year, as university officials prepare to manage the return of thousands of cars to campus.
“The first four weeks of school are the busiest so we encourage students to allow for extra time,” Public Affairs and Communications Specialists Chad Keller said. “100% of the time there are empty lots but people get stuck circling a lot that’s full.”
As of 2020, there are 14,000 available parking spaces on campus, according to the department’s website. Despite the large amount of spaces available, parking can be a challenge at the start of the semester.
To offset the impact of beginning of the year parking, an overflow lot at Cottonwood Church is available for the first eight weeks of the fall semester. According to the department’s email, there will be a free shuttle every 20 minutes operating Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Permits for this parking lot are discounted at the price of $180. After Oct. 17, the permits will function as regular campus semester permits and parking at the church will not be permitted.
The department also revealed a change to EV charging in an effort to maximize charger availability on campus. Only vehicles that are actively charging are allowed to be in the EV designated spots. According to the email, beginning Aug. 19, EVs will have a one hour grace period to relocate after charging has been finished.
After the grace period, an idling fee of 10 cents per minute will be applied to the transaction until the car is moved to a different space to free the charging station.
See the interactive map for available EV charging stations on campus.
In addition to the changes in policy made to parking for the new academic year, the price of the semester parking permit has increased by $9, according to Keller.
Following a freeze of the permit prices in 2023, the department adopted a 5-year-parking increase plan developed by Parking and Transportation Services to counter the 92% drop in permit sales during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Keller, that plan has been abandoned.
“The plan was written in 2021 using projects we had at the time for every semester,” Keller said. “We were able to abandon that aggressive plan for a much lower rate because of the return of events on campus and the big return of students after COVID.”
Parking permit prices are now calculated by the Consumer Index Price or increased by 5%, whichever is lower.
Prices for the 2024-2025 school year:
- Daily: $15
- Monthly: $57
- Semester: $259
- Academic Year: $518
Various infrastructure and construction improvements are also underway, including the FCS Child Care Project which may affect traffic at the Go Beach sign. Employee lots E3, E4, E9, E11 and general lots G3, G5 and G11 are undergoing recoating and restriping improvements.
A new vehicle exit will be added to Lot E10 near the University Bookstore. According to Keller construction of the improvements will not impact students with major closures.
