University of Kentucky employees currently pay $444/year for parking on campus. The unfortunate side to that is there are no designated lots for campus employees. The University allows students to purchase an E permit which will allow them to park in employee lots and this causes a surplus of people competing for the few employee parking spots that are available. The other option coming in at $3 less per month is to park at the stadium and shuttle to where you work. However, the shuttles have designated stops and they do not cover the outlying clinics or offices. So an employee may still have to walk anywhere from a quarter-mile or more to get to their destination while still having to pay over $400/year for a parking spot. Beyond the obvious financial frustration, crossing the roads to get into our workplaces is dangerous. There is no order to the University crosswalks. While there have been no fatalities that we know of, I have been privy to many an instance where someone has had to jump out of the way from a vehicle moving far too fast. The walks are not safe, not guarded, not patrolled. Even the handicapped spots are insane distances away from actual offices. We are asking University administration to please think about the employees. Give us a voice in decision-making when it is us that is earning you $5 million a year just on parking alone. Restructure the parking or lower the fees.

Employees, please comment with your stories. Tell the University where you work, what your options are, your horror stories of driving around campus for an hour trying to find a spot close to work. Tell them how long it takes to get anywhere for a shuttle, how long you have to wait for a driver to make a stop, how far you STILL have to walk after the last shuttle stop. Make your voices heard. The letter will be edited to include these stories so that the University voice as a whole is heard.