UC Davis commuters who drive alone to campus will pay an extra $4 for monthly parking permits beginning in July. Car poolers, on the other hand, will be rewarded this year for sparing the air in addition to saving money-their parking fees will remain unchanged. Starting July 1, the monthly cost of "A" parking permits will rise to $38 while "C" permits will increase to $30 each. The increase will help pay for a new south-campus parking lot and adjacent three-level garage near the future site of the Center for the Arts. Construction of the lot is scheduled to begin next month. Campus planners and transportation officials say commuters really are buying far more than a parking space with their increased fees. They are saving the heart of the campus for academic buildings, protecting open space and preserving the chance to park within a 10-minute walk of their offices, classrooms and the library. "The only alternative is to just pave acres and acres of the campus," said Bob Segar, campus planner. "If you do that, not only do you lose those acres, but you can't keep the parking close." A long-range development plan adopted by UC Davis in 1994 called for construction of three parking structures on the edge of the campus to help accommodate thousands more commuters by 2005. All three garages will be located near buildings used for special events. The first garage was built on the northeast corner of campus near Freeborn Hall. The second, southwest of Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center, will be close to the future Center for the Arts. A third is planned near Rec Hall. "We're trying to distribute traffic and access all around the periphery of the campus," Segar said. "And we're also trying to do double-duty on each parking structure so it gets round-the-clock use." The fee hike is the third in a series of four annual increases to finance construction of the new parking structure and adjacent surface lot near the alumni center. Construction is scheduled to begin next month with the 885-space lot opening in early 2000 and the 715-space garage completed by January 2001, for a net gain of 350 parking spaces. Campus parking services are supported entirely by parking fees. After three years with no fee increases, parking-permit fees began rising in July 1997. Annual increases over the three years since have raised the cost of "A" and "C" permits by $11 a month--from $27 to $38 a month for "A" parking and from $19 to $30 a month for "C" parking. A fourth increase planned for next year will be a similar amount to this year's. However, campus parking remains about a third the cost of parking in a downtown Sacramento garage. Lots 1, 1a, 2 and 2b, all located south of Old Davis Road and west of the Alumni and Visitors Center, currently can handle 1,200 cars and trucks. To make up for parking spaces lost to construction, stack-parking services-similar to valet parking-will be provided during the academic year in those lots as well as in Lot 47 near Leach and Meyer halls. In addition, three temporary parking lots, with a total of 480 spaces, will be built this summer to help meet increased parking demand as the campus grows. Those lots will be located east of Primero Grove, north of Regan Housing and south of the Fire and Police Building. Buildings planned for those sites won't be constructed for approximately three to five years. Transportation officials anticipate parking-fee increases will persuade more commuters to walk, bike, take a bus or join a car or vanpool. Monthly arpool parking fees range from $6 to $14 depending on the number of people and where they park. The monthly vanpool-parking rate is $23. "Before renewing your permit please consider joining the hundreds of other UC Davis commuters who have already discovered the savings and convenience of sharing the ride to campus," Clifford Contreras, parking services manager, said in a campuswide memo on the fee increases. About 700 people currently ride to campus in registered carpool, vanpool or transitpool programs, according to Ann Davies-Nesbitt, alternative transportation coordinator for Transportation and Parking Services. Car poolers save hundreds of dollars a year, Davies-Nesbitt said. For example, a solo driver who makes a 40-mile round trip and parks in an "A" lot spends an estimated $1,272 a year for parking, gas, oil, tires and car maintenance. By comparison, costs for a commuter who carpools with two other people total $384. Commuters can buy bus passes from Transportation and Parking Services at discounts up to 40 percent. Moreover, individuals who take a bus or vanpool to campus can pay for these services on a pretax/payroll deduction basis, at added savings. Transportation and Parking Services also can help commuters find carpool partners via direct access to regional rideshare databases. Transportation and Parking Services works closely with the Yolo County Transportation District to ensure bus service to neighboring towns, Davies-Nesbitt said.