I'll Tell You Where I'd Like To Park It!

Yesterday I received what I can only call an advertisement from Parking Services here at IUPUI:

From: Parking Services IUPUI
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 8:47 PM
Subject: Guaranteed Garage Parking While Supplies Last

The temperature is dropping and so will the number of available parking spaces on campus. In a few weeks, the campus skyline will begin to change when a new, 1,300-space parking garage goes up on the east end of campus. As the garage goes up, available parking will go down.

Do you really want to spend your time searching for a parking spot? Premium parking is available in the Vermont Street or North Street garages . . . but only while supplies last.

Get your garage permit before someone else takes your spot. Simply visit Parking Services at 1004 W. Vermont St. to exchange your current permit.

I wrote back with a copy going to Chancellor Charles Bantz:

I'm still astounded that IUPUI would build yet another parking garage when we know for certain that the price of gas will be going up, the number of cars on campus will go down, and students will be looking for better ways and cheaper ways to get to campus. IUPUI is myopic in looking at the current situation and not looking into the future.

Perhaps IUPUI should be looking to partner with local companies for mass transit(and NOT Bloomington-based shuttle companies!) to support our students', staff's, and faculty's transit needs.

Maybe it's time to bring out the clue bat and start hitting these people over the head with it.

UPDATE

I received the following note from Carol Pferrer, the Director of IUPUI Parking and Transportation Services and I'm heartened!

I agree that helping people move to more sustainable options as they relate to transportation needs to be a priority. We’ve been partnering with IndyGo for three years by providing our students with a S pass that is valid on any of IndyGo’s fixed routes. The university has a sustainability committee and I co-chair the Transportation Subcommittee for Sustainability. We are looking at ways the campus as a whole can affect transportation. One of our Assistant Directors is charged with moving us more toward TDM (Transportation Demand Management) and we have an intern that is collecting data for several sustainable transportation projects. I would like to invite you to join our Transportation Sustainability committee as it seems you have a passion for this topic.

All that being said, we are looking to our master plan to guide us as we move into the future. It has many garages on the plan, as we will no longer have a sea of surface parking available for our community. We will continue to search for the balance.

Our next Transportation Sustainability meeting is on November 10, 2009 at 1pm at Parking and Transportation Services. Hope to see you there.

I'm going!