Editor’s Note: The following article is converted from a transcript of the podcast version of this story. Listen to the podcast using the embed above or follow the link here.
On Wednesday, February 1st, a post on the UC San Diego Reddit page revealed adjustments to on-campus parking prices and spot locations. More specifically, student residents parking, more commonly referred to as SR parking or SR spots, is now four dollars and thirty cents a day – a nearly 50% increase in price from its 3 dollars a day rate in July of last year. Additionally, SRD, or student resident discount parking spots are now available in lot P705, due to what is described in the post by UCSD Transportation Services to be “a deficit of Student Resident SR spaces on Main Campus.”
Alrighty – let’s break this down. For those who don’t know, UCSD Transportation Services lists eleven different parking permits available for purchase. Besides Visitor or V Parking, there are four classifications of parking spots meant for undergraduate students.
These include Student, Student Resident, Student Resident Discount, and public D spots, all ranging in price from 2 dollars and thirty cents cents to five dollars and twenty-five cents a day. There is also a “Flexible Parking” commuter pass offered by the University. It can be purchased on the ParkMobile app for 5 dollars a day in parking zone numbers 47400 through 47403 on campus. According to the UCSD Transportation Services’ website, the permit money generated from parking permits goes towards, quote, “for the development, maintenance, and operation of parking facilities while supporting other sustainable mobility options that aim to reduce environmental impact and distribute parking demand, ultimately lowering development, maintenance and operating costs” – End quote.
Alongside this, SR spots have been transferred over to Parking Lot 705 and discounted to an SRD price of two dollars and thirty cents a day. For those that don’t know, Parking Lot 705 is located near the UCSD baseball field and MTS Trolley Stop. It is between Genessee Ave. and Voigt Dr., and far east of campus.
The screenshot has been uploaded to Reddit by two different accounts, and was addressed to Student Residents, and was met with dismay among the social media app’s commenters. Some expressed their disapproval of the expansion of SR spots.
One top comment reads: “They literally took all of the commuter S spots in 6th and Pangea and turned them into student resident parking.”
Another one says that “reminder that non resident parking is even worse.”
The UCSD Guardian reached out to the original posters on our school’s Reddit page and received a comment from one of the posters. They wanted to remain anonymous but gave further opinions as to why they posted.
In their words, “The price of four dollars and thirty cents a day is outrageous, and you can only buy days consecutively and a minimum of 30. I also feel bad for student commuters, it’s even harder for them now to commute to campus, and I’m going to feel that struggle next year too.”
This is not the first time students have demonstrated opposition to parking and transportation-related matters. Issues with parking and its accessibility have been voiced by students during both Associated Students meetings, as well as in a previous UCSD Guardian article by Staff Writer Carter Castillo. Castillo’s article, published in October of last year, features sentiments from off-campus students expressing that finding parking on campus can be a difficult feat, as public transportation or carpooling to school is not an option for them.
Other commuter students gave their input to the UCSD Guardian on how they perceive the changes.
Revelle College Third-Year Maia Peterson expresses her frustration that no new commuter spots are being opened.
She says, “I commute 30 minutes to an hour every day for my classes, and there’s no guaranteed parking. I work a part-time job on campus, which is the only way I can afford to keep parking in certain spots since I have the early morning shifts. It feels like the school doesn’t care about students living off campus.
Sixth College Fourth Year Jillian Osborne has also faced challenges with finding a spot on campus. She says that “Everyday for me is a challenge when parking on campus. I have looked into getting an S permit.”
Although the University offers permit options. Osborne has decided against it. “Even if I have an S permit, there are never any spaces available. My three parking solutions are either parking in Visitor parking and paying 15 dollars a day, or using the supersaver lot by gliderport, which is a 30 minute walk to Warren.”
Other students have experienced increasing frustration when it comes to prices specifically. John Muir College fourth year and commuter student Andrew Fuller says that “I have to weigh the decision of paying for parking because the rates are just too high. I have outright avoided going to campus some days because I couldn’t afford the parking permit.”
For more information on UCSD parking permits and rates, students can visit transportation.ucsd.edu.
This is Mehri Sadri, Senior News Writer for The UCSD Guardian and commuter student – thank you for listening.
