A new lower cost option for parking permits is available for students and faculty who do not mind the longer walk from parking lots F10 and G10 for $55 less than the unrestricted semester parking pass.

“The campus was looking for a way to offer students and faculty another option,” said Capt. Alfredo Fernandez of Parking and Transportation Services.

The new parking pass option will give students and faculty the chance to save money for only having to walk a longer-distance.

The lots, which are north of the dorms, are between Lindley Avenue and Zelzah Avenue and north of Lassen Street.

The Matador Tram is used by students who live in the dorms to shorten the walk to campus. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the tram stops just south of Lindley and Lassen, by the University Park Apartments, makes two stops along the way, and concludes its route by Redwood Hall, north of the University Student Union.

Monday through Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., the tram stops at the F10 parking lot, by the University Park Apartments, and by Redwood Hall.

“I think it’s give and take,” said junior civil engineering major Robert Utreras, 24. “Some students walk a lot further because they park on the street. It would be helpful. I think it is worth it to walk a little further.”

Business management major Michael D’Amico, 22, usually parks in the B5 parking structure and said he can’t see the lower cost parking being productive.
“I’d pay the $55 to not have to walk that far four days a week,” he said.

Like Utreras, D’Amico said those who will benefit the most are the ones who park on the street.

“Street parkers will love the idea,” D’Amico said.

So far, the parking pass is available for purchase in person only, at University Cash Services in Bayramian Hall or at the Parking Office in the Department of Police Services, Fernandez said.

Plans to buy the lower cost parking pass online are in order.

University Cash Services did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the popularity of the parking pass.

The pass can be converted to the regular, campus-wide parking pass at any time, and vice versa, said Fernandez. However, students should note that passes lose value as the semester goes on because the passes are prorated, and any refunds for the difference in value will reflect that.

While the price of the new passes might motivate some students to park further away from the center of campus, it is not expected to affect parking congestion throughout campus, added Fernandez.

“It was not really done for that. I think we have sufficient parking,” said Fernandez.