UC Davis monthly parking rates are expected to rise, on average, $2 per month starting July 1.

At Dateline's press time, the rate changes were not official but were likely to be approved, said Transportation and Parking Services director Cliff Contreras.

The proposed hikes are the second of four planned rate increases that were announced last year as part of a TAPS Long Range Access Plan. As part of the plan, over the course of four years, fees were to increase by a total of approximately 35 percent. Increases will offset the cost of the West Entry Parking Structure, a 1,476-space, six-level garage slated to break ground in January on temporary lot 45 -- between Hutchison Drive and the Police/Fire Building. The new structure will cost approximately $36 million.

Under a parking fee proposal released May 30, the cost of a monthly campus "A" permit would rise from $44 to $46 per month. The cost for a "C" permit would increase from $35 to $37. Carpool rates also would increase by $2 per month. And UC Davis' low-cost "L" long-term permit would go from $19 to $20 a month.

The largest increase would come for "CH" parking permits, available to the chancellor, provost and executive vice chancellor, deans, vice chancellors, vice provosts and associate vice chancellors. Those permits will increase from the current $88 to $92.

As part of the access plan, TAPS also will be expanding existing lot capacities and building new lots to provide parking for UC Davis' growing number of faculty and staff members and students. More than 300 new parking spaces are set to be constructed this summer. Also, stack parking services in the North Entry Parking Structure and Lots 10, 41 and 45 will again be available at the start of the 2003 fall quarter. And to offset the loss of spaces in lot 45, TAPS will provide stack parking services in lots 25, 35 and 47A until the West Entry Parking Structure is complete. The new parking garage is scheduled to open in September 2005.

TAPS relied on input from faculty, staff and student members of this year's Transportation and Parking Advisory Committee and the Transportation and Parking Work Group to outline programs and services, Contreras said. He said the following three principles guided the program changes:

• All parking patrons should pay for their campus access;

• Parking permit fees are based on access to parking facilities, and permit holders with the most and/or best access should pay relatively more for such access; and

• Permit fees paid by parking patrons should include only those costs directly associated to providing parking and parking related services.

Underlying these principles, Contreras added, was a sensitivity to escalating parking rates during a time when "salary increases are minimal, benefit costs are rising, student fees are rapidly going up and all departments are dealing with significant budget cuts."

To reduce projected parking rate increases, the proposed rates pass some costs on to motorists who have benefited from subsidized access up to now, he said.

For instance, under consideration is a parking permit fee for students, staff and faculty who are legally eligible to display disabled placards on their vehicles. UC Davis and UC San Diego are currently the only two UC campuses that do not charge disabled staff, faculty or students for parking, Contreras said. UC San Diego is looking at implementing an on-campus parking fee next year, and UC Davis is examining charging a fee this year, he said. That fee would not exceed the rate of a "C "permit, he said.

Also, the price of visitor permits will rise from $5 to $6 a day. However, Contreras said, in recognition that additional visitor parking closer to the core of campus is desired, visitors who park on campus will now have access to an additional 1,868 campus parking spaces -- a 39 percent increase in access -- between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Parking permit customers will continue to have access to the Motorist Assistance Program, which provides at no additional cost: lights-on notification; flat tire inflation; transportation to a gas station if patrons run out of gas; lock out assistance; and a battery jump service.

In addition, valid UC Davis parking permits are honored in all campus lots at evening (after 5 p.m.) events during which the Special Event Attendant Parking Program is in operation.

The TAPS' Long Range Access Plan, which also discusses programs for students and employees who ride their bikes, carpool or take transit to campus, is available online at www.taps.ucdavis.edu.