Parking crunch to loosen up

Parking at Penn has long been a pain. In mid-February, however, the parking crunch will be slightly alleviated by the opening of a 766-car garage on 40th and Walnut streets, above the new Freshgrocer supermarket. About 460 of these much-needed spaces will be reserved for faculty, staff and students, according to Bob Furnace, University director of transportation. Right now, the University has about 6,200 total parking spaces on and around campus. 4,800 of those spots are reserved for students, faculty and staff through yearly permit parking. "We have to provide access to the campus for everyone," Furnace said. "We're pretty much able to accommodate the student need, although we have a waitlist for faculty and staff. Parking is an issue on this campus and always has been. We just never have enough." Jack Shannon, the University's top economic development official, said that the issue of parking must be handled carefully. "What we're trying to do is develop additional inventory of structured parking spaces that would be located in close proximity to where the users work, but at the same time would be located in such a way as to reduce congestion in the core part of the campus," Shannon said. Shannon also noted that University City parking costs are much lower than those in Center City. "Our rates are 40 to 60 percent of what it would cost to rent a parking space in downtown Philadelphia," he said. "For an urban campus, we have a relatively large supply of parking." In relation to New York City's Columbia University, Shannon's statement holds true -- although Columbia has a significantly smaller student population. According to Columbia Assistant Director of Mail and Transportation Tom O'Hehir, the school has about 350 spaces in two parking lots. "We don't have any student parking," he said. "There is no need for cars." Students at Columbia can only park their cars in university parking lots after 5 p.m., at the rate of $80 per night. Parking Supervisor Edrys Erisnor estimates that about 25 students take advantage of this every night. While Columbia's rates seem steep compared with Penn's, New York has a public transportation system unrivaled by Philadelphia's. Yale University, in New Haven, Conn., has many of the same parking problems as Penn. "There's never enough parking," Yale Manager of Parking and Transportation Joan Carroll said, echoing Furnace's words. Yale students keeping cars in one of the school's approximately 3,000 parking spots pay rates ranging from $50 to $100 a month. On the whole, these rates are cheaper than Penn's. Most Penn students do not keep cars on campus. "Well, it's Philadelphia -- the public transportation isn't great, but it doesn't require a car," said College junior Ben Birnbaum, who does not have a car here. "And it would be too much hassle to park it." "I would [get a car] but parking is expensive and I don't really need it to get around," Engineering freshman Henry Lai said. Currently, 339 students have commuter permits and 214 have 24-hour permits. Other students keep cars off campus, although Furnace discourages that, saying "off-campus parking is really a hunting game." "The student demand for parking has reduced over the past few years," Furnace said. "I've been trying to work with the school to discourage students from bringing cars because the demand is so high." For 24-hour student parking and for faculty and staff, the rate is $1,257 per year. For student commuters, the price is $1,035 per year.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.