Finding a parking space on campus is a difficult task, especially with 7,875 registered vehicles competing for 6,687 available parking spots.
Construction in Newing College and Hillside Community this year has eliminated parking areas. According to Binghamton’s New York State University Police Deputy Chief Daniel Chambers, the construction of Newing College’s Bingham Hall led to the loss of 194 parking spaces, taking out the S-1 and S-2 lots.
However, the T-1 lots located near Johnson and O’Connor halls in the Dickinson Community added 88 spots.
This year there are 4,113 commuters, 2,481 staff members and 1,281 on-campus residents with cars registered through Parking Services.
Parking Services is aware of the students’ need for new parking lots.
“I have been approached by many students who complained of the lack of parking spaces. In reality, there are many parking spaces still available,” Chambers said. “It’s that students want to park in spaces closest to their classes. I understand that and we’re trying to find spaces to expand and build. But that also means [the students are] walking more since buildings are spaced so far apart.”
According to Chambers, building new lots is expensive, costing nearly $3,000 per lot, while building a parking garage can cost as much as $18,000.
“We don’t have the funds to make as many new lots as we want to,” Chambers said. “Since we’re not funded by the state, we make use of what we have by maintaining and renovating the existing lots.”
In addition, nature has interfered with the construction of new lots. Chambers said he had found an area behind the College-in-the-Woods community, but plans were dismissed in order to preserve the trees and accommodate the cross country team’s practice area.
Plans to build lots near the Brain have also been dismissed to preserve the aesthetics.
“Students would have appreciated parking areas near the Brain but aesthetics like the greenery are favored more than parking lots,” Chambers said.
New residential buildings are also housing more students, who also are in need of parking spaces.
“These new buildings bring in more students and it’s hard for us to find new lots to build to accommodate its residents. There are about 15,000 people in the University population, and of those, 7,000 live on campus,” Chambers said.
Another reason there are so many cars on campus is that the number of students who can have cars goes up each year with the increase in class sizes. According to the Binghamton University Magazine, there are approximately 2,400 sophomores who can have cars on campus this year, when they did not last year.
Parking Services has offered options to help alleviate the parking dilemma by launching a program for commuters who carpool with three or more passengers. The carpoolers who sign up for the program will receive an HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) permit and a guaranteed parking spot for the whole year.
This spring, Chambers hopes to improve the use of parking space by utilizing angled parking spots at the Dickinson Community, solely for motorcycles.
According to Chambers, there are currently 51 motorcycle permits.
“Students get angry at the fact that these motorcycles take up a lot of space that could have been used by cars. By designating an area for these motorcycles, we can make efficient use of the slim-fitting angled parking at Dickinson and give more spots to those with cars,” he said.
According to Chambers, the University is always open to exploring new ways to build and expand parking areas while staying green.
“In the meantime, students should look into the numerous parking spots at Lots M and S, the tennis courts and at Mountainview [College],” he said.