Speak up Be heard: Parking and transit
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Parking and transit
Again, you are not listening to your students and faculty... the most valuable members of the University! I am FT faculty at ASU and the #1 complaint I hear from coworkers is about paying to park and not even at a discounted rate! It is cheaper to park at Heritage garage through the city than to pay through ASU. I will not be returning in the spring because of this, the pay is just not enough to justify paying to park as well. ASU has a huge problem with employee retention, I wonder why. The community colleges pay a lot better and their parking is free? As a resolution maybe you could let us know who we can actually approach about making impactful changes. This forum of complaints with a generic resolution of BS is obviously getting us no where.
TBD
Shuttles from Campus to the parking lots
I contacted parking and transit to ask about shuttles that run from campus to the further lots, like lot 59. I was told there were none and was not provided with any other ways to get to get into campus from the parking lot. ASU used to provide this for students and staff. It was called the Flash. We have excessive heat waves right now and we no longer offer this? They are supposed to walk in 117 degree weather to their car in lot 59?What happens if staff/students are injured (broke leg)? How are they supposed to get to and from the parking lot to their building? What if they become ill during the work day? What about pregnant staff or staff who have temporary medical conditions, like cancer? This seems like a real health concern and a real disservice to staff.
TBD
No Visitor Parking, PTS is unresponsive
I am so completely frustrated with the parking situation in my area of campus. I work at Coor Hall. I have (and pay for) a Motorcycle surface parking permit.
The only nearby Motorcycle surface lot WAS in Lot 65, about a block away. Now, that lot is closed (for construction), so the next nearest Motorcycle surface parking is in Lot 15, which is unreasonably far away.
I sometimes choose to drive my car to work. I also occasionally have vendors or others come to visit me at work for business or other purposes. ALL VISITOR PARKING in the vicinity of Coor Hall has disappeared over the past several months. The 10th St/Myrtle Ave structure, which has visitor capabilities and space available, is restricted to Permit Only. The nearest visitor parking is now in the Gammage lot, which is an unreasonable walk in 110º+, especially given that there is a parking structure right next door with open spaces in it.
I know there is construction going on over here! It would be impossible to not notice! PTS making the situation WORSE by closing off visitor parking in the area is just silly.
PTS further sold me a Motorcycle surface permit that I intended to use in Lot 65, then closed that lot without notice or a reasonable replacement.
I have tried to address these issues with PTS directly. I was met with 'company speak' about options that aren't really acceptable, and promises that the new parking structure, currently under construction, will offer visitor spaces - some day. They failed to respond at all to the issue with the Motorcycle surface lot, and just clammed up when pressed further.
I don't know why PTS doesn't seem to ever do anything to improve their horrible customer service reputation when it comes to stuff like this, but my experience right now is that they don't care and aren't interested in explaining why things are the way they are, or doing anything to fix it.
TBD
ASU Gold Shuttles Missing Routes
ASU Gold shuttles are scheduled to run every 15 minutes while within operational hours. Half of the gold shuttles have not been showing up for two weeks now. I have to wait 30-40 minutes beyond the usual time. Then the bus doesn’t even have room for everyone. I have sent emails with no concern or resolution in response.
I have had to start driving because there is no guarantee that a bus will show, or that there will be room for me to ride. We rely on busses to get to classes, our jobs, pick up children. We ride to be conscientious and sustainable. In addition the WiFi almost never works on the busses so I have stopped trying to connect. We are not getting the services promoted. Mostly frustrating because there is not concern or communication.
We apologize for the inconvenience that you experienced. Parking and Transit Services strives to make ASU shuttles as dependable as possible. The free Polytechnic-Tempe route — previously called the Gold route — has an on-time performance of 97%. However, unforeseen issues like accidents, traffic and drivers calling out sick can sometimes cause delays.
Occasionally, shuttles travel through areas that disrupt their Wi-Fi connectivity. When the shuttle stops, please inform the driver about any Wi-Fi issue so they can address it.
Please use the shuttle tracker for live updates on current shuttle locations. Sun Devils can follow @asu2asuShuttles on Twitter for updates and information about ASU shuttles.
Flexible Parking & Payment Options
I am a relatively new employee and previously worked at another large public university. It seems I'm faced with the same issue here as I was previously; not enough parking available to employees to park near their office building. However, something I don't see offered at ASU is "Flex" parking, especially for employees who are not working on campus everyday. My previous employer offered this and employees could get a "Flex" parking permit, but then use the ParkMobile app to enter the time they will be parked and pay at a discounted rate. Maybe ASU could offer something similar so that employees can try parking closer to where they work. Or at least the option for employees to pay to park in lots or garages at a discounted rate if they don't have a parking permit.
ASU does not offer a flex parking permit. Instead, drivers may pay the hourly rate at any garage or surface lot. Drivers can use ParkMobile at surface parking lots or pay when exiting from a garage. ASU sells parking permits at a reduced rate and sets the hourly parking prices at the current market rate. We have found that parking availability for high-demand areas necessitates a waitlist, which could result in either short- or long-term waiting periods. Because of this, it would not provide a better parking option for Sun Devils.
Shared Parking
It would be great if we could share the paid parking space with another person. Since ASU started a hybrid working model, staff/faculties do not need to come to campus every day. It would be nice if two people could share the cost.
Parking and Transit Services incentivizes alternate transportation modes to support ASU’s sustainability commitments, like reducing commute-related emissions. It offers an https://cfo.asu.edu/hov-parking-permit-application for two or more passengers who commute in the same car. HOV Permits are the only permits that can be shared.
ADA accessibility of Parking Office
During purchasing of my ASU Parking Permit, the website was not working. I called the phone number listed on the website and a service request was created to have a staff member call back to fix my issue. After a month of back and forth I was finally told to go in-person to the office. Once in-person, I was informed Lot59 (the most economical lot) was sold out and the ASU Parking and Transit phone number on the website was not actually ASU Parking (I was informed they do not have phones) and was actually the ASU Help Desk. I was informed I was the one at fault for not knowing I should have immediately gone in-person and trusting the people on the phone. How are students with disabilities and needs have accessibility as outlined by ADA supposed to have equal access to ASU Parking if the phone numbers listed are not for the ASU Parking and Transit office? How can students obtain help with parking who are unable to physically go to the office that is at the very edge of campus? Why should it be deemed the students fault for trusting the phone number listed on the ASU Parking and Transit website?
We apologize for the issues and inconvenience that you experienced. Our online system undergoes significant stress when permits first go on sale, which can cause disrupted service. We are working to improve the permit purchasing experience this year. Our staff answers calls and emails to assist Sun Devils as quickly as possible. You may also also visit the Parking and Transit Services news section and follow us on Twitter for updates about parking availability and events that may affect your commute to campus.
Parking refund
I was on campus everyday during the COVID shutdown and still had to pay to park. This is completely unfair! Employees shouldn't have to pay as much as students to park, and then to refuse a refund for the employees who still had to come to the office is not right. I know for a fact that ASU can afford to refund those employees that had to come into the office during COVID. Please listen to your staff members and resolve this issue.
It was ultimately a university decision not to provide refunds or stop payroll deductions after the established refund deadline. The following reasons and communication was provided on the Covid web materials here.
Refund for Parking during Covid
Has there been any thought given to the idea of providing a refund for Staff with permit parking during the time Covid took place? Many staff where not driving, parking or physically on campus but we were still paying for permit cost during the Covid pandemic from AY 2020-2021? A refund would be appreciated now to staff during a time of such high inflation and gas cost.
It was ultimately a university decision not to provide refunds or stop payroll deductions after the established refund deadline. The following reasons and communication was provided on the Covid web materials here.
Long Commute Staff and Parking
I am one of many staff that have an hour or longer commute to work and pay for a parking pass. I understand the need to fund PTS operations as it is financially self-supporting and that permit prices have not been increased since 2008. However, I think it is important to recognize that the incentives offered such as transit subsidies do not apply to those of us who must commute from an hour or more away. I began working for ASU just 2 months prior to the pandemic and the cost of housing in the valley soaring. If I could afford to move closer to work, I would. I participate in a hybrid work schedule and drive an energy efficient vehicle. I park in Tempe and commute to my office in Downtown Phoenix via the shuttle to cut back on transportation costs and avoid increasing my carbon footprint. If public transit were available to me from an hour away, I would participate. I still find the cost for a parking pass to be exorbitant. While ASU's sustainability principles are important, some, particularly participating in more sustainable transportation options, are idealistic and come from a privileged world view. Please consider making on campus parking more accessible to those of us with long commutes and support efforts to expand public transportation between counties.
Parking and Transit services is currently working with the City of Tempe to address transit options. Updated information will be shared when it becomes available.
Updated information as made available:
ASU continues to work with our City of Phoenix and Tempe partners who manage the Valley's public transportation system to enhance services where possible. We encourage those working at the Downtown Phoenix Campus to view the Valley Metro website for Express Bus options. These services are most robust to Downtown Phoenix. With the transit subsidy ASU provides to faculty/staff, this would alleviate the need for an annual parking pass at Tempe.
Parking rates have not increased in price since 2008. Given the development across the Tempe campus and loss of surface lot parking, parking rates will likely increase in future years due to more expensive structure parking replacement. PTS is exploring monthly versus annual permit options to offer more flexibility, especially for those working hybrid work schedules, with a continued focus on alternative modes of transportation. PTS has evaluated employee vanpools in the past for those that live far distances which garnered little to no interest. However, these and other alternative mode options can and will be revisited to provide as many as possible options to our campus community.