Getting to work, and parking when you're there

The UI Parking and Transportation Committee met Oct. 9 to hear proposals for improving and expanding employee access to the campus. Among those proposals are new parking places, discounted passes for the Iowa City bus system, expanded vanpool options, and a new carpool program.

The proposals were developed by Dave Ricketts and staff of the UI parking and transportation department. The committee—a university charter committee composed of faculty, staff, and students—found merit in all these options and will continue to study them:

• The potential for the development of up to 200 new parking spaces in the South Madison Street parking lots, 50 new parking spaces for staff members in the Newton Road Ramp, and 300 new spaces in the Hawkeye Commuter Lot.
  
  
• Discounted bus passes for the Iowa City Transit Systems. Under this proposal, UI employees commuting to work could buy monthly passes for $10. Buying the passes under a pre-tax option could lower that price to $7.
  
  
• Expansion of a minivan vanpool program that was started earlier this year. With fewer riders in each vehicle, minivan vanpools would be easier to organize than the larger vanpools.
  
  
• A new program that would offer preferred parking to groups of employees that commit to carpooling.
  
  
• A new guaranteed ride home program for vanpool and carpool participants. This program would provide two free rides home per year for those occasions when people miss their vanpool or carpool.
  
  
• A new program with pre-tax benefits that would reduce the cost of holding Iowa City parking permits.

Ricketts anticipates that some of these options, notably the discounted bus passes, the expanded Hawkeye Commuter Lot, and the pre-tax benefits, could become available as early as this semester.

In June, fyi reported that the Department of Parking and Transportation would change its system for assigning parking spaces to employees on wait lists. The new system took effect this week. Previously, there was one wait list for each lot, and names appeared in the order in which they requested parking. Now, each lot will have a separate list for faculty and staff. Assignments will be made by alternating between the two lists. The lists will be prioritized according to the date of University hiring.

For more information about parking or to get on a wait list, call the parking office at (33)5-1475.

Article by Steve Parrott and Sam Samuels