Community College Journal - April/May 2011

challenge: “The community colleges we
are working with are studying how to
use a combination of parking permits
and parking fees to fund their parking
structures. And, much like four-year
institutions, these same community
colleges are open to using either public
or private capital as a funding source.”
Architect Matt Jobin of Rich and
Associates in Southfield, Mich., special-
izes in parking issues. Though the ideal
scenario is to provide ample, adequate,
efficient parking for every person who
wants it, he says meeting the parking
needs of community colleges requires
several steps.

Determine Your Needs. The first step is to understand how students and staff are commuting and to measure how many are doing so in their private vehicles. Factor in alternative transportation modes (e.g., bicycle, shuttle, subway, rail, bus) to determine the number of spaces needed. Conduct regular parking usage surveys, which, over time, can be used to more accurately gauge your parking needs. Some colleges work with parking consultants to craft surveys and capture vital information.

Develop a Strategy. It is important to
weigh all factors, including land avail-
ability, community impact, and public
transportation options. Suburban
campuses usually have more flexibility
to develop a parking infrastructure
than urban campuses, as land is often
more readily available and affordable.
Says Jobin, “New surface parking lots
make sense when land is plentiful, be-
cause they are generally less expensive
to develop than parking structures.
However, parking lots represent a very
inefficient use of land, so they generally
aren’t an option for urban campuses or
suburban schools that are landlocked.”
Urban campuses generally build
parking structures that can accommo-
date many more vehicles on the same
footprint than parking lots, provide a
number of safety advantages, and pro-
vide space to meet other campus needs,
such as housing or classrooms, he says.

Structured parking can be a community resource when educational institutions partner with other organizations to share their parking facilities. For instance, churches, which typically experience peak parking use during weekends, can share parking facilities with community colleges whose peak usage occurs on weekdays. Or, in other instances, community colleges can partner with local officials to make on-street spaces and municipal parking available to faculty and students.

Consider Public Transit. It is important to consider the availability of public transportation to and from campus. By promoting the use of public transit, community colleges can lower parking demand and the costs of developing infrastructure. There are a number of

Online Parking
Resources and More:
www.parking.org
The International Parking Institute
(IPI) offers training, certification,
and resources for community
college parking personnel,
including:
• An online Knowledge Center
with a searchable database that
highlights proven practices and
provides statistics and relevant
parking facts and information;

• The Parking Professional, a monthly magazine that provides in-depth coverage of new parking technologies, best practices, and examples of innovative parking operations;

• A national job board to aid in the search for those with parking expertise;

• A shop offering textbooks,
primers, and manuals on
parking, plus the 2010 Parking
Buyers Guide & Consultants
Directory; and
• Web-based seminars on a range
of parking topics.

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