Long-awaited changes to student parking on the packed Medford campus have finally arrived, the result of a massive parking overhaul in the wake of this summer's addition of the six-level, 450-car parking garage beneath Dowling Hall. The garage provides extensive parking for visitors, commuters, faculty, and staff, opening up areas previously designated as faculty/staff parking to students.
John King, the director of the department of Public and Environmental Safety, is the main force behind the changes. King distributed the first of two mass e-mails to all Medford campus students in early August asking for input on several proposed changes.
"We got a couple hundred responses to the e-mails... I was really flattered by the positive response and the time many took to give great feedback," King said.
With this feedback in mind, several modifications have been made. Uphill, the lot behind Miller Hall, previously only for faculty/staff, has been designated as resident-only parking. The area behind Carmichael Hall retained approximately 15 spots for faculty/staff with the rest now available for students. North Hill Road, the street that runs in front of Lane Hall, is now a two-way road where parking is no longer permitted. Downhill, the lot behind the Aidekman Arts Center is open to any car with a commuter, faculty/staff, or resident parking decal.
Another modification of parking policy that will likely prove popular among students is allowing off-peak parking outside one's user area. For instance, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends and holidays, any vehicle with a resident parking decal can now park in any spot on campus. This includes the parking lot behind the Fletcher Field tennis courts and along Professors Row. According to the department of Public and Environmental Safety, however, the 6 a.m. policy will be strictly enforced. Suggestions also came from sophomore TCU senator Andrew Potts, the chairman of the Senate Administration and Budget Committee. Potts expressed similar optimism about student response to handling of parking policy.
"We weren't sure what to expect at first, but what they've done so far has been very good. It's not perfect, but it's definitely a vast improvement over last year. It seems like students are a lot happier," he said.
Despite administrative efforts, some students with cars still have some problems with campus parking. Latin Way resident Meghan Carleton frustrated with the ticketing policy of the Tufts police, feels that the ticketing policy should be far more lenient.
"If you have a $165/semester parking pass, the cops should at least give you a warning, one get out of jail free card. Don't take us to the cleaners," Carleton remarked.
Perhaps the greatest source of displeasure lies with sophomores. The first of King's e-mails discussed the possibility of lifting the restriction on sophomores being able to park only in the Cousens lot. In addition, the possibility of closing the Cousens lot to overnight parking was also proposed. However, neither of these changes was implemented. According to King, the decision to stay with the status quo on sophomore parking is not a permanent one.
"We would ideally like to have all overnight parking (including sophomores) either uphill or downhill and be able to close the Cousens lot at night. It's simpler and safer from a patrol standpoint," said King. "But as far as the sophomores go, we didn't want to open up parking to a whole other user group without being sure how that would affect other user groups. So for now, we're going to keep sophomores in Cousens and reevaluate the situation in early November to see if we might be able to make some changes."
The Senate is aware of the difficulty sophomores are having with parking and would like to reduce their frustration by conducting further research on student parking, according to Potts. By measuring the volume of sophomore parking around the campus at particular points during the day, they hope to find a long-term solution to the problem of sophomore parking.
"If sophomores feel like they got the short end of the stick, just hang in there. Be aware that we're honestly going to reassess the situation," said Potts.
