Transit and Parking Monitors First Days of School

Photo Submitted

A Razorback Transit bus serving Lot 99.

The University of Arkansas Transit and Parking staff met on Wednesday and discussed the effectiveness of campus logistics related to transit, traffic and parking during the first days of class.

It is quite normal for there to be a huge volume of traffic, pedestrians and bus passengers during the first couple of weeks of school, and the beginning of the 2018-19 school year has been no exception.

No major problems were reported.

Gary Smith, director of Transit and Parking, said it always helps for students and employees to get an early start on the way to those first days of class.

"We saw a lot of people going to work or going to class all at the same time," he said, "and that can make things very congested on campus, especially for the person who is running late."

Transit and Parking always advises everyone to leave early on the way to class or to work, especially at the start of the fall semester.

"At the beginning of each school year," Smith said, "we always see that traffic and parking gets much more manageable for everyone on campus after Labor Day."

In other news:

• Lot 99 is for remote parking and has been refurbished and expanded this summer. It will have more than 1,100 parking spaces and can be accessed with any UA parking permit. Lot 99 is located on Beechwood Avenue south of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. A permit that can be used for Lot 99 only is $25 for the entire school year. Razorback Transit buses come to that area every 12 minutes during peak times.
• Some Razorback Transit bus routes have been altered. To see the specifics about the routes and schedules, you may look online.
• If you want a quick-reference guide to what your parking permit will allow and what it will not, you may see the parking options chart online.
• Parking permits may still be obtained online at the Transit and Parking website.
• The Whoosh! app is a convenient way to pay for metered parking in a garage without having to stop at a pay station. By using the app, you can pay from anywhere, without waiting in line.