As the holiday season approaches, the Parking and Transportation team at Washington University in St. Louis is providing an important reminder and several parking updates for the campus community.
Holiday vehicle storage
“This is the time of year when students, faculty and staff may be traveling for the holidays but may be leaving their personal vehicles behind,” said Gwen Bolden, director of Parking & Transportation Services. “We want to ensure that any individual who plans to leave a vehicle on campus for more than 72 hours is aware that WashU offers a vehicle storage option in the Wallace Garage.”
Any vehicles left in a parking space for more than 72 hours in any other location on campus, whether a permit is displayed or not, will be relocated to the West Campus at the owner’s expense, and additional fines may be assessed.
Those wishing to store their vehicle on campus during winter break must come to the Parking and Transportation office on North Campus (700 Rosedale) to complete a vehicle storage form and receive the necessary storage placard.
Those who hold an annual red or full-day yellow permit will not be charged for vehicle storage. Residents living in The Lofts may leave their vehicles in the Lofts garage; however, a Parking and Transportation storage placard must be displayed in those vehicles. All other permit holders will be charged the permit holder rate for holiday vehicle storage. Those without permits will be charged the nonpermit rates.
Parking permit waitlist and appeals
In mid-November, the parking permit waitlist was cleared, and notifications of availability were distributed. This includes all zones as well as individuals who wish to enroll in the Occasional Parking Program.
All new requests will be placed on a fresh waitlist, which will be reviewed in January. As a reminder, first- and second-year undergraduates are not permitted to park on campus and cannot purchase parking permits.
Parking and Transportation also reviewed and cleared all recently submitted appeals. The team has focused on improving and formalizing the parking appeals process, with the goal to resolve citation issues closer to the point of the incident, or within 10 to 14 days. Appeals must be submitted in writing or online within seven days of the violation for consideration.
New West Campus garage parking
To better accommodate yellow permit holders who need to park at West Campus, the fourth level of the West Campus garage now will provide parking for both Zone 5 yellow and ParkSmart permit holders. Previously, this level was reserved for ParkSmart permit holders only.
“We appreciate feedback and will always do our best to improve parking options whenever possible,” Bolden said. “We know that this is a challenging year for those who wish to park on campus, and we plan to continue to review our existing resources to evaluate opportunities that could potentially improve the parking experience at WashU.”
New garage technology
The new gate-arm access technology project at the Danforth University Center, Millbrook, Snow Way and West Campus garages is underway and should be complete by 2018.
“These projects may create occasional inconveniences for permit holders who park in these garages, but the team is working to minimize disruptions as much as possible,” said Dedric Carter, vice chancellor for operations and technology transfer. “We want to thank the campus community for all you have been doing to accommodate the changes that we have made over the last few months and encourage you to continue to provide us with feedback.”
For more information and the latest parking updates, visit parking.wustl.edu.