Updated as of 1:39 p.m. on Sept. 13 to include an interactive map of where commuter students are allowed to park on campus.
For three years, senior Ashland Sutton has been commuting to Elon’s campus with no issues. Now, she is accustomed to the sight of the full Innovation Quad parking lot and cars circling the lot.
“I've always parked there,” Sutton said. “I've never had an issue getting a spot, whereas this year, it's been a little different.”
Living half an hour away, Sutton now gets up at 6 a.m. to guarantee a spot before her 8 a.m. class or risk parking further away in the Danieley parking lot.
“If you get here at about 8 o'clock, the lot's pretty full already but not too crazy. If you have an 11 o'clock, you're not going to find a spot,” Sutton said. “I do know several people who've had to park in Dan because they can't find spots through here, and then some people that have had to park in other lots, and they've gotten tickets because they can't find a spot in Innovation lot.”
Sutton contacted Campus Police so they would be aware of the problem, Chief of Police Joe LeMire sent photos of available parking spaces throughout the day with timestamps.
“Some of those were during peak hours where there was maybe one spot available that could have been when someone backed out, but there's typically someone waiting to go right in if someone backed out,” Sutton said. “But I do understand from their standpoint that they're doing everything that they can and have had to push back the plans with freshman housing and freshman parking, so I do understand where they're coming from as well.”
LeMire said the congestion is also due to the 500 more parking passes bought this year compared to last, which he said was because the South Campus and Danieley Center lots were ticketed more last year, leading to students buying the passes this year.
“South Campus, Danieley Center, some other areas of campus we didn't enforce very much — we just kind of let it go because there's always plenty of parking in those areas,” LeMire said. “People learned that we didn't pay much attention to it, so they never bought a pass. They were just parked there. And what we realized is we had a whole section of students that were getting away free and not paying when all other students had to pay. So we said we need to hit those lots.”
Commuter students can park in Schar Center, Colonnades, Innovation Quad, Danieley Center, Arts West, Station at Mill Point and South Campus.
“When people are saying there's no parking, there's clear pictures of the Innovation-Colonnades area that there are places to park. It may not be right next to the building where they want to go, but there are places to park,” LeMire said. “Now if someone shows up at a time period where it's very busy, then there might be one of those other lots they have to go to. And I think some of the anger comes from, ‘I didn't plan ahead and I have to be in class in five, 10 minutes. I don't have time to walk.’”
LeMire said getting to campus early to secure a spot in the morning or parking further and walking is the best thing to do.
Senior Morgan Sanders has also had a harder time finding parking in the Innovation Quad lot than last year, she said. During peak hours, Mondays and Wednesdays around 11 a.m., she has struggled the most looking for parking, she said.
While she struggles to find parking in the Innovation Quad, overall Sanders also said there aren’t many options for commuter students to park.
“I feel like there isn't really spots to park as a commuter, so that kind of feels like the only option in the first place,” Sanders said. “That's such a like that's the most central spot, and it's not even very close to anything in particular.”
An interactive map of where commuter students can park on campus
Sutton said some of the frustration comes from the 40.63% price increase of parking passes, rising from $160 to $225. According to LeMire, this is the first time in 15 years that the rates for permits are going up, and the increase was due to maintenance costs.
“We have to pay parking enforcers, we have to have cars, we have to have fuel parking permits. The lots have to be taken care of. There's paint, there's signage, there's everything that goes into running a parking operation,” LeMire said. “It looks like maybe it was a 40% increase, but that was a 40% increase over no increases for all those years. Now the student complaint is, ‘Well I wasn't here all those other years,’ but the operation has always been here and those operational costs have increased.”
The original plan for the 2024-25 year was for freshmen to park in the eastern lot of the Danieley Center and by the Francis Center to make more room for other students and faculty, but this was delayed to next fall due to permit issues, according to LeMire.
“What was coupling some of the complaints was: we raised the rates of parking, but we don't have the lot, but it was never meant to be one caused the other,” LeMire said.
LeMire suggested students arrive earlier to ensure they get a spot.
“Plan a little bit sooner and use these outer lots if you need to or come in early,” LeMire said. “Early bird gets the worm. Come in and grab the parking spot.”