The University of Wyoming sits nestled in the middle of Laramie, with over 13,500 students getting to campus for class each week. While a portion of students walk or bike to campus, many drive especially as temperatures drop. Parking continues to be a problem for any student who commutes to UW.
“The parking availability is ridiculous and most of the time it’s a guessing game,” said Rebecca Austin, a student who commutes regularly to campus. It can be a huge time suck for students to get to campus in time to find a spot to park.
“Most times if I plan on parking I have to make sure I allot an extra half hour so that if I can’t find a parking spot I might be able to drive to the parking lot by the track field and take the bus to make it to classes on time,” said Austin when asked about how much time she has to factor in to commute to campus.
Several years ago the newer pay lot was put in across from half acre with an initial cost of $1 per hour to park from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Today the current price is $1.50 per hour to park in the lot, emphasizing the premium commuters place on being parked close to campus. As winter sets in students would rather not trek from the outer edges of campus to get to class.
Some lots are designated for faculty or staff only, students living in fraternity or sorority houses and students living in the dorms. Permits for commuting students can be purchased but there are just a few lots for that particular kind of parking.
“We’ve seen more permit sales than ever before with a 10 percent increase of students in the dorms this year,” said Paul Kunkel, the manager of Transit and Parking Services on campus. “Next year we’ll likely have to make adjustments on how we distribute permits but I’m not sure how we’ll handle that yet.”
In an effort to alleviate some of these problems parking and transit services are making every effort to offer students alternatives.
“Over the years we’ve increased our transit services to compensate for some of the lost parking,” said Kunkel. “As new buildings have gone in, engineering, S.T.E.M. and anthropology we’ve added more stops to make up for some of the parking lost there.”
The transit services around campus run to the south and the east commuter lots, providing a ride to almost 7,000 students each day. It’s a viable option for students who want to skip the hassle of buying a permit or spending a large chunk of time hunting for street parking.
“The busses themselves are great and very helpful,” said Austin. “It’s not as great during the winter only because with any stop there’s a bit of walking to go to where you need to get to and the snow and wind don’t help but hey, that’s Wyoming.”
Students and faculty can also be expecting an e-mail within the next month asking them for their thoughts about the UW parking and transit services. This year a study will be conducted with the help of a consultant for some long-term recommendations for the university. Meetings will be held with stakeholder groups including ASUW to discuss what plans for the future might look like. Recommendations and final data from the survey will be released in the spring.
“Any college campus you go to parking is a challenge, there’s always more people who want to park than there is space,” said Kunkel. “I think we’ve managed it pretty well. We’re really picking up the slack where we see parking space disappear.”
