
(Photo by Jessie Wardarski)
Parking rezoning at the Polytechnic campus has resulted in a $200 increase in parking costs for some students and traffic congestion for others.
Parking lots 6, 10, 30 and 37 were rezoned from green to red this fall, as determined by their close proximity to campus buildings.
Parking permits for green lots at the Polytechnic campus cost $280 while permits in red lots cost $480.
This goes in line with a plan announced last year to make Polytechnic parking similar to the other campuses, said Aaron Bryant, ASU Parking and Transit Services spokesman.
“As campuses are built up and new building and features are added or changed, parking is displaced and the core centers of demand shift with new and expanded locations,” he said.
Bryant said parking price and classification is based on the distance from core campus areas.
The change was announced to students on Aug. 13.
Criminal justice and criminology sophomore Brenton Lange has a perimeter-parking permit that he purchased at the Downtown campus.
This permit allows him to park in lot 24 and 27 of the Polytechnic campus. He said he didn’t know about the rezoning until he got a parking notice.
Lange said he was able to park closer to campus last year and had more room.
This year, the red lots have more room, while perimeter parking is over-crowded, Lange said.
Lange lives off campus and has to go to classes a half-hour before they start to make sure he has enough time to park.
“There are times I have to sit in my car to wait,” Lange said.
Human and development senior Echo Love also arrives to the campus at least a half-hour before her classes start, too.
Despite getting to campus early, she has been late to her classes twice so far because she was waiting for a parking spot to open.
Love said she has never had a problem with parking on the Polytechnic campus before.
It takes literature, writing and film senior Breanna Henderson 15 to 20 minutes to walk to her classes.
Before this semester, Henderson could park in any green lot. Now she parks in perimeter parking because she can’t find a place to park anywhere else.
While Henderson was aware that the lots were going to be changed, she didn’t know how much of an impact it would have.
“There was no place to park,” she said.
Both Henderson and Love are graduating in December, but were required to buy a full year parking pass.
“I wish they had term parking,” Henderson said.
Reach the reporter at mncosta1@asu.edu