The University of Wisconsin’s Transportation Services is proposing a series of changes that could increase permit costs and reduce services to campus bus services and parking permits in an effort to resolve a $1 million deficit facing the department.
University of Wisconsin Transportation Administrator Gordon Graham said the changes include increasing campus permit prices for both mopeds and cars, as well as cutting back on campus bus services.
Graham said Transportation Services is also proposing an increase in costs of permits for car and moped drivers to park on campus. Campus permits for base lots will increase by $45, monthly permits by $5 and evening campus surface lots by $125.
Graham added while many nighttime parking permits have not been available to students, they intend to open more options for these permits, which would allow students to park on campus between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Officials also plan to sell permits that assign moped drivers to specific lots instead of granting drivers universal access to all campus parking lots.
“What we are noticing is that students were using their mopeds to go from class to class, and that really wasn’t the intention,” Graham said. “The intent was for students to use their mopeds to get to campus … so when you buy a moped permit, it will be for a particular lot.”
He added there will be about five lots available on campus at more popular locations such as UW Hospital, Camp Randall and the Kohl Center.
Graham added UW will continue to subsidize free campus bus services, but are working with campus administrators and student government members to identify potential areas to reduce costs, such as reducing hours of service or cutting out portions of the routes that might see less use.
He said Transportation Services is also reviewing a possible increase in student payments toward the bus program, with a 10 percent increase in payments for the system over three years. This change would increase students’ share of payment toward campus bus routes from its current rate at 50 percent to 80 percent in this time period.
“Most of the changes we think we can make with minimal impact to campus services,” Graham said.
Laura Checovich, an Associated Students of Madison Student Transportation Board member, said Transportation Services presented approximately 15 different options for potential cuts to be chosen and deliberated by students.
Checovich said the options presented ranged from cutting hundreds of hours of bus services to cutting availability for late-night and early-morning bus routes.
She said she was pleasantly surprised that many of the proposals would limit changes to campus transportation, while the more dramatic changes would save UW money and work hours.
The student board will consider each of the options and respond to the proposed changes by next Tuesday. Following this discussion within UW, there will be public hearings with university and Metro officials in early May, Checovich added.
“Hopefully we will be able to work together to make sure the cuts that are chosen will impact students as little as possible, while still meeting budget goals,” she said.