With rumors spreading that the university oversold the amount of parking permits available for vehicles to park on campus, Jim Alty, associate vice president for facilities and campus services, said that the university is just now about to be at full capacity.

As of Sept. 11, the university discontinued the distribution of on-campus parking permits. There are currently 2,428 on campus permits issued, 1000 of which are for commuting students.

There are 2,862 on campus parking spots available for on and off-campus residents.

There are 994 spots off campus that are located in the First Assembly lot, the freshman lot, Reynolda Village and other various smaller locations. What has seemed to happen on campus is a bizarre increase in the number of vehicles needing to park.  Due to the removal of nearly 200 spots located on south campus where the freshman dorm construction is occurring, this has certainly taken out a primary lot for many on campus parkers.

“The south campus dorm construction certainly exacerbated the parking situation, and we probably didn’t do the best job planning it all out,” Alty said. “It was the perfect storm coincidence; we needed a new dorm for all the freshman arriving to campus, but we also needed a better parking situation. Balancing it all out is pretty difficult to do. What we’ve seen is an increase in commuter permits and a decrease in the number of freshman permits sold.”

The university has taken several measures to decrease the amount of cars on campus and alleviate the congestion that occurs daily.  By purchasing about 115 parking spaces across Polo Road in the First Assembly Church of God parking lot and implementing a new off-campus shuttle system, the university is hoping to alleviate some of the parking stress.

Students have tried to utilize the First Assembly parking lot in years past only to find parking tickets on their windshields when they returned to their vehicles. By the time students returned to campus this semester, the parking spaces were available for student use, but many students were never informed of the change.

“I was thinking we weren’t allowed to park there at all,” junior Emily Wright said. “In fact, I haven’t been under the impression we were allowed to park in a lot of these other spaces at all.”

“The university didn’t notify us directly about the extension in the First Assembly lot,” Wilson said.According to Ken Zick, the vice president of student life and the former overseer of campus facilities and Parking Management, the confusion of freshman orientation is partly to blame for the mix-up. Students look over the parking options for their first year, but fail to plan ahead for subsequent parking needs. Rarely do they review the options as upperclassmen.

“It’s easy to say to students you’re going to be safe by parking in (the Q parking lot), but if you go online you will see other regulations that allow students to park elsewhere,” Zick said.  “There’s a color-coded map that shows students exactly where they can park all over campus grounds. If students say they weren’t notified, they simply didn’t read the information. Part of getting acquainted with a campus is figuring out where to park.”

For students interested in changing their parking permit, Parking Management is now offering freshman passes and off-campus satellite parking permits.  Reimbursements for those who turn in their $500 decals will be credited that amount to their student accounts, according to Alty. The reimbursements will not be made by cash or check. In addition to opening up various other parking spot options, the university has also implemented a new off-campus shuttle service called The Wake Line.

This service includes two shuttle busses, the Gold Line and the Black Line, and they will begin running cycles on Oct. 5 between the hours of 7:20 a.m. and 6:50 p.m.  Off-campus students living in the Crowne Polo, Crowne Oaks, Crowne Park, Alaris Village or Deacon Ridge apartment complexes will be able to have access to the two shuttles.

The schedule and information about the shuttles can be found at www.wfu.edu/ridethewake.

“This isn’t about building more parking lots or creating more spaces, it’s about getting students on to and around campus,” Alty said.

“The intent of the two new shuttles is to help the mass transit, kind of like what you see at bigger universities.” With the two buses, drivers and overall planning that has gone into this project, it has cost the university $300,000.

Many students have speculated that due to the enforcement of ticketing while parking has been difficult, the university has been pooling money from ticketing to support this project. “All the money that has supported this program has come from the university’s general fund,” Alty said in response to these rumors.

“Any rumors going around that we have ticketed more to help support this project are false. Ticketing is the only way to reinforce the rules.” In fact, there have been fewer tickets distributed in the period between Aug. 24 and Sept. 24 this semester than last year.

According to Parking Management, during the 2007 period there were 2,272 tickets, the 2008 period increased to 2,762 tickets and this semester there have only been 2,462 tickets.

“I have received numerous tickets on campus because I haven’t been able to find parking where I’m registered to park,” junior Chris Cosgrove said.

“(Parking lot Q) has been a complete zoo and I don’t understand why we let so many freshman onto campus without planning ahead for parking,” junior Elizabeth Hartley said.

“I think it’s ridiculous that we pay so much money to attend this school and then we have to pay large sums of money through purchasing a permit and, eventually, paying for parking tickets that we’ll probably get because we can’t find a place to park,” junior Rachel Wilson said. These sentiments are all too familiar.  With the new shuttle system, though, the university is truly hoping for a positive turnout.

“With over 400 undergraduate students living in the five apartment complexes that the shuttles will service, our hope is that at least 200 will take advantage of the shuttles on an daily basis,” Alty said. “We do understand that some students will continue to use their personal vehicles due to personal errand needs or unusual schedules that can’t be met by the shuttle.” Some off-campus residents are skeptical of seeing a huge change.

“With my schedule I probably won’t use it,” junior Amy Rutiger said.  “I haven’t had a problem with parking, but that’s just because I get on campus before 9 a.m. every day. I would like to use the shuttles, but I don’t think my schedule will work with it.”

“The university will continue seeing an increase in commuter students if you keep harping on students to get off campus,” Hartley said.

“It’s definitely going to take a while to get used to,” Wright said.  “I feel like the shuttles are targeting students who don’t have a car, and most students bring a car to school here.”

Zick acknowledges that there is a common assumption among university students that because they are allowed cars on campus, they are entitled to the most convenient spots. The university’s small size and relative isolation are likely reasons for this mindset. In order to see success with the changes in parking, members of the university will have to be patient and cooperative, Alty said.

“A lot of solution simply rests within people changing their habits and perceptions, and that takes time,” Zick said. “When people get accustomed to public transportation, they realize it’s quite convenient. We’re conflicted because we’re trying to move forward, but plenty of people are still relying on the past.”