 "Photo: UH")
After swiping his credit card through one of UH Mānoa 's new automated pay-to-park stations, Kendall Yee, a visiting theater technician, quickly calculated his prospective tab: $12.
"This is outrageous," Yee said. "There are going to be a lot of empty spaces around campus."
Other members of the college community echoed Yee's concern about the parking rate, which, at a maximum daily fare of $16, is a significant increase from the $3 visitors used to pay.
"Most students can't afford this," said Julia Rausch, an economics major. "Doesn't the university know that we're in a recession?"
Beginning this semester, campus visitors, like Yee and Rausch, will not be required to pay parking fees at the Maile Way and East-West kiosks from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Instead, visitor parking will be made available in designated parking zones, marked with green borders.
Visitors parking in the zones will be required to purchase and display a ticket from a pay-to-park station. At $2 per half-hour, the fee charged by the university is higher than many other places around town, such as the Honolulu Zoo ($0.25 per hour), the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center ($2 for two hours) and the park-and-lock stations outside the old Varsity movie theater ($1 until 4 p.m., $3 for an entire day).
"The parking operation does not receive tuition revenue or funding from the state Legislature," said auxiliary and facilities services officer Raymond Shito. "Since the daily visitor rate has not changed in 16 years and operation expenses have continuously gone up, an increase was necessary to maintain the parking facilities and campus shuttle system."
The automated parking stations will accept quarters, dollar coins, $1, $5, and $10 bills, as well as MasterCard and Visa, Shito said.
"The automation of the visitor parking system will reduce operating expenses for the university and make it easier to account for collections taken," Shito said. "The pay-to-park fee will encourage a turnover of spaces, as visitors will only pay and park as long as necessary."
New parking meters and gate technology are being supplied to the university on a lease-to-own contract. After installation, the equipment will be managed by a parking vendor.
"The university is paying approximately $28,000 per month for the lease and other services, which were awarded on a five-year contract bid," Shito said.
An information attendant will be stationed at the East-West kiosk, from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., to provide university guests with parking information. From 4 p.m. until closing, gate attendants will be posted to collect a fee of $3.
Special accomodations will be made for the guests of academic departments.
"Departments may purchase special parking passes for their visitors and guests for a flat fee of $5 per day," Shito said. "Requests for department passes should be submitted to the Parking Office at least two working days in advance."
The new parking meters follow last semester's closure of Maile Way from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. While increased security was cited as the reason for the Maile Way closure, safety was not a factor in the decision to add parking stations, according to Neal Sakamoto, chief of Campus Security.
"Security concerns were not an issue in the new kiosks," Sakamoto said, though security will be tasked with monitoring violations.
Additionally, parking validations for upper campus are being discontinued in lieu of designated visitor lots. Vehicles carrying government license plates or contractor passes are not eligible to park in the pay-to-park zones without paying.
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