The Student Caucus is taking action to Fix Parking at TRU!

The Student Caucus has heard students’ concerns regarding parking, and has developed and submitted a series of practical solutions to TRU.

Students made it clear that parking is one of their top concerns at TRU. In the Winter 2014 semester, hundreds of students participated in the annual Student Budget Consultation to have their experiences reflected in university plans. A desire to improve the experience with parking was undeniable.

The survey found that 73% of students had negative opinions of parking on campus and many (40%) were “very dissatisfied.” Almost all (91%) students said that parking is an important issue for them. Student’s written comments called for a greater range of affordable, flexible, and convenient options.

At the same time, TRU is dependent on revenue generated from parking fees to maintain parking infrastructure and services and to support general university operations. Further, TRU has made increasing sustainability a strategic priority, and reducing the use of single-occupancy vehicles is an important contribution to that priority.

Overview of the Student Caucus’ Parking Proposal

The Student Caucus has developed a proposal with a series of recommendations that will make parking work for everyone:

Open staff lots for everyone to use (541 more spaces available to students) Provide an affordable $3/day option in distant lots Provide a range of options by hour in central lots $4/2 hours

$5/3 hours

$6/4+ hours Reduce passes from $25 to $20/week in central lots and from $25 to $12/week in distant lots, but eliminate long-term discounts Provide a 20% discount on long-term passes for those who live beyond transit service Convert Lot V from staff parking to visitor (coin meter) parking Extend paid parking to evenings and weekends to raise revenue fairly Increase the price of reserved spaces from $1,050/year to $1,440/year to raise revenue on luxury parking Invest $100,000/year of parking revenue in a Parking and Transportation Improvement Fund to return value to users

The proposal has been submitted to the Parking Appeals and Advisory Committee, who will make recommendations to the Vice President Administration and Finance on what changes should be made.