Transit and Parking Provides Feedback for Students and Employees

An online survey about transportation and parking issues was completed by the University of Arkansas Transit and Parking Department on March 31, and since that time the department has been analyzing the results.

Gary Smith, director of Transit and Parking, said the department has been taking a close look at the information provided in the survey by students and employees.

"We appreciated the people who responded to the survey," he said. "We are technically still evaluating the responses."

The initial overview, however, has already given the department the opportunity to respond to some concerns on campus.

New Q&A information has been made available in response to the survey, and can be viewed on the transit and parking website at parking.uark.edu.

Generally speaking, a lot of the survey respondents called for more parking areas; more bus routes; better signage; easier use of Harmon Avenue Garage; and better lighting at night.

There were other requests made as well, but those five came up most often.

While many respondents said the university needs more parking lots, more parking garages, and more buses running, the information provided by transit and parking states that all of those items costs a lot of money, which would require a rise in the cost of parking permits.

But several survey respondents indicated the cost of permits is already a concern.

Smith said the department is committed to making improvements where possible.

"We are going to be reconstructing the remote parking area and also lots 35 and 38," he said. "That will create 732 new remote parking spaces and 72 new parking spaces on the main part of campus."

Lot 35 is a student lot north of Douglas Street between Leverett and Whitham avenues. Lot 38 is a reserved lot on Leverett Avenue between Maple and Douglas streets. The Remote Lot is southwest of campus on Beechwood Avenue.

In addition, the department works with the university in an ongoing effort to provide better lighting on campus and to improve the signs that direct traffic to the desired areas.

"The survey itself indicates that different people want different things," Smith said. "Sometimes one respondent said we should change one thing and another respondent said the opposite."

That means that there are some issues in which it is impossible to give everyone what he or she wants.

"We try to accommodate the needs of as many people as we can," Smith said, "and at the same time we want to make sure everything is safe for everyone on campus."