February 2, 2011 | Michael Kirk

Student Parking Changes to Take Effect This Fall

Parking in C-Lot will be offered for $50.

C Lot from the UConn Campus Map
A map of the Storrs campus showing C-Lot at right.

A series of changes to student parking designed to better utilize C-Lot and make the pricing of student permits more equitable is going into effect, following a vote by UConn’s Parking Advisory Committee on Jan. 25.

Under the changes, which go into effect this fall, students can purchase a parking pass for C-Lot for $50 a year. C-Lot is located on North Hillside Road behind the tennis courts. Parking permits for both residents and commuters, other than those for C-Lot, will cost the same: $110 a year. Students who live on campus can use C-Lot as a storage place for their car, particularly if it usually sits idle for stretches of time. Commuters may also purchase the $50 pass for the lot.

“C-Lot has 550 spaces and even during peak periods only 30 to 60 are typically used,” says William Wendt, UConn’s director of transportation, logistics, and parking services. “This change in pricing for C-Lot creates an affordable option for students who want to store their cars or for commuters just interested in paying less for parking.”

Wendt says these changes are first steps in bringing a more practical approach to parking at UConn: more desirable spaces nearer to the campus core will cost the standard rate, whereas less desirable spaces farther from the center of campus will cost less.

“C-Lot is not the only underutilized parking area we have,” he says. “Our strategy moving forward is to offer more lower-cost remote or storage parking options. This will thin out parking on campus, give students choices, and help UConn fill up lots that don’t see enough use.”

The changes may also include some good news for residential students with fewer than 54 credits, who have previously not been allowed to buy permits to park in UConn lots: any C-Lot permits not purchased by students with more than 54 credits will be made available to resident students with fewer than 54 credits.

“The 54-credit rule doesn’t make sense any longer,” says Wendt. “Giving these students the chance to buy the C-Lot passes is part of a longer-term effort to eliminate the rule entirely. It will take time to completely phase it out as we reexamine parking supply and demand across campus, but this is a start.”