NOTE: This information reflects the answers provided by Parking & Transportation and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ASUCI.

Why has UC Irvine decided to adopt a zone parking system?
The purpose of zoning is to more equitably distribute cars over campus so that it is easier to maintain access for students, staff and faculty, etc. In addition, UCI is legally required to reduce its carbon emissions over the next several year. Zoning discourages people from driving around campus between classes, thereby lowering the total campus mileage and decreasing our emissions.

But many of the lots are reaching capacity and people cannot find a place to park. Students paid good money for their parking passes so how can you tell them they have to park somewhere else?
Students paid for a pass that allows them to park on the UC Irvine campus but they are not guaranteed a space in the lot of their choice and Parking reserves the right to limit the areas in which they are able to park. However, Parking does guarantee that there will be a space for them somewhere on the campus. Even last year the Student Center, Social Sciences and Physical Sciences lots often filled up between 10am and noon.

Also, parking traffic is higher during the first few weeks of school so the problem will continue to get better. During Week 1 Parking issued some 300 tickets and over 80% of them were for people who did not have a valid permit, so illegally parked cars were taking up spaces that other students had paid for. There was also some confusion about where people could park because not everyone understood the number of lots that were available to them in a given zone. As time goes on and people become more familiar with the system the situation is improving.

What should students do if they cannot find parking in their zone?
Students who are unable to find parking should use the ARC or CT lots, which are designated for overflow. Peak parking for campus is between 10am and 2pm so if you are arriving during this window of time there is a good chance you will not be able to find parking. It may be faster to drive directly to an overflow lot rather than circling around in the structure. If you park in the ARC or CT lot you can take the main campus shuttle to your school. The closest pickup to the CT lot is on the corner of Arroyo and California and there is a stop directly in front of the ARC.

Does Parking have any plan to change the current zoning system in the near future?
Parking is closely monitoring the distribution of cars across campus for the first three weeks of school because this is the period of peak traffic. Based on the usage rates and the distribution of cars across campus they may modify the system going forward but it is too early to have any concrete plans. In the meantime, Parking is trying to free up more space in the different lots. They have already converted 18 AR stalls to regular commuter stalls and they are allowing people to change their pass to a different zone. Over 176 people in Zone 3 have exchanged their passes for a different lot.

The Director’s message says “zoning has been a practice on campus for the last four years.” Why haven’t students heard of it before?
This is the fifth year UCI has had a zoning policy, it has just been phased it in slowly over time. It started with some of the freshman class in 2005, then as the years went on sophomores, and juniors were incorporated. This is the first year everyone has been included in the zoning policy.

Why wasn’t this communicated to the students more clearly?
Parking did over 17 presentations in May and June of last year for major campus groups like the Staff Assembly and Council on Student Experience. But when there were town halls for students no one came. Perhaps a campus wide email should have been sent out but UCI Communications only allows Parking a few of those each year so they are rarely able to communicate directly to the student body. In the future, Parking will consider putting an explanatory message on the website page where students go to buy their permit.

Why did permit rates go up this year?
The rates went up $3 per month per permit. Rates are set so that they generate sufficient revenue to maintain the daily operations of parking and transportation and pay down the interest on UCI Parking’s debt. Parking has an $80 million dollar mortgage debt that was accrued through the cost of building new structures and lots. Each stall space in a structure costs anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 to build and in a flat lot the costs are anywhere from $2,500 to $3,700 per space. On an annual basis UCI has to pay $5.8 million towards its debt. Last year parking ran at a deficit, which means that they drew down on their reserves account to pay off part of the mortgage. But they are legally required to maintain a certain amount in the reserves account so they are not able to do that again this year. In addition, UCI Parking acquired more debt this year. Anteater Structure (Engineering) opened in 2006 and for the first three years Parking was only making partial payments on the mortgage but this year they have had to absorb the full debt, which means the annual cost of their mortgage payments went up. However, students are not being asked to bear the full burden. Parking has cut its maintenance and enforcement costs by 50% and reduced special events costs by 20%. In addition, they have reduced contracted services by $560,000.

Why is the top level of Anteater Structure (Engineering) closed?
The top level of Anteater Structure is no longer closed; it was opened in July. The residents of University Hills were concerned that the lights on the top of the structure would reflect back into their homes so an agreement was made to only use the lower levels until such time as the parking demand hit capacity. The lot started filling up at the end of last year so the upper level has been opened.

The ARC parking structure is done, why hasn’t it been opened?
The parking structure adjacent to the ARC is not owned by UCI Parking, the structure was build by American Campus Communities (ACC) and was intended for the residents of the new property. Because the ARC lost spaces when the structure was built they will be allowed to use the spaces on the first floor. ACC does not need the spaces until the new property opens next fall, so if the structure is opened this year, Parking will have to pay to manage it. As stated in the Director’s Message this would cost Parking $173,000 dollars. (As soon as the lot is utilized Parking has to begin paying back the bond, which would cost an estimated $90,000 plus the cost of securing the upper level, paying for utilities, cleaning and earthquake insurance.) Perhaps Parking would be willing to consider this if they needed the spaces but the existing ARC spaces are not being filled to capacity. Last year the ARC only had 150 spaces but now that the construction barricades have been removed they have 335 stalls and the lot is not filling up.

If the lot sign says “full” but I see cars coming out, why won’t the parking attendant let me in?
It depends on the situation but normally the attendants are supposed to let people in. Sometimes there may already be a number of cars circling around inside, so the cars coming out may be from spaces that have already been taken, or they may be cars that were unable to find a spot and are going to a different lot. In this instance, the attendant may stop cars from going in to make sure that the traffic flow inside the lot does not become too congested.

Why can’t VDC, VDC Norte and Arroyo Vista residents buy a commuter parking pass?
As students are already seeing, our parking lots are already heavily impacted. Limiting on-campus residents to their respective housing lots is a way of keeping additional cars off of campus and making more room for the commuters. However, there are extenuating circumstances in which a campus resident may have a valid reason for needing the parking pass. If this is the case, they can come into the Parking Office and fill out an exemption form that Parking will consider on an individual basis.

Why have the costs of short-term parking changed?
There are two kinds of short-term parking- pay-by-space and short-term permits. Pay-by-space permits are designed for people who need to run brief errands like dropping something off in Financial Aid or picking up a form from the Registrar. Because these cars are not supposed to park there for extended periods of time, the rate is $4 per hour. The short-term permit is designed for tasks that are one to two hours so they cost a little bit less- $3 per hour. Anyone who plans to stay on campus for three or more hours should purchase a general day permit for $8 per day.

Why do I have to pay toward the cost of Alternative Transportation if I don’t use OCTA, the ASUCI shuttle or a bike?
Only a small portion of student permit fees pay for alternative transportation programs. The bulk of the funding comes from parking ticket revenue. While you may not use these modes of transportation you do benefit from them. The more people who take the shuttles, ride the bus or use their bike, the fewer cars that are in the lots, the better chance you have to find parking. If UC Irvine can get enough students to use alternative transportation, then they can minimize the number of new parking spaces they need to build as the school expands, thereby minimizing their debt and keeping the cost of parking low.

Why are tickets so expensive?
UC Irvine has the lowest permit rates of any UC school that owns as many parking structures. To encourage everyone to buy permits and to offset lost revenue, ticket prices are kept high. If you buy a permit and follow the rules you will save money in the long run but if you try to cheat the system it may end up costing you more.