Correction: This story has been modified from its original version. — Steve Mouras is Tech's director of transportation and campus services. The Collegiate Times regrets this error.
As the Virginia Tech community expands, steps will be taken to allow for more vehicles on its roadways. According to the Virginia Tech Master Plan, over the next decade many changes will be made to the parking scenery, including garages and the construction of buildings on top of current surface lots.
Transportation and Campus Services is in charge of several of these projects.
"Our job is to provide quality service to the Virginia Tech community. This includes printing, mail and records management," said Steve Mouras, director of TCS. "We manage the BT contract, bikeways and pathways."
In 2002, when Tech's parking plan was created, a ratio was identified for how the campus would maintain a certain number of spaces per customer group. This was based upon demand that was measured by the number of permits that were requested, and then from that demand, a certain percentage of spaces were generated. Relative to the number of permits sold, there are about 85 percent of spots for faculty and staff, 45 percent for commuter graduates and 90 percent for residents; in other words, if 100 students apply for a resident pass, 90 spaces are constructed.
"When we did the master plan, we also did a duration analysis and determined that the average student only spends about four hours in parking every day," Mouras said. "People often buy permits and don't even bring their vehicle to campus. This is a good thing for us. We have 15,000 spaces with around 19,000 permits sold a year."
Soon, construction will begin on a new garage located north of Cowgill and Whittemore halls. With the project costing about $25 million, permits will likely see a substantial cost increase.
"The earliest that construction will start will be December, with the latest being in May or June, all contingent upon factors outside of our control," Mouras said. "We have selected a design-build team and they are well into the design phase."
The two primary sources of revenue are permit sales and ticket collection. Compared to peer universities, Tech has the second lowest cost in parking permits, but one of the highest costs for parking tickets. At $30, Tech outstrips other schools, whose tickets range between $15 and $20 per incident.
Some have raised questions of whether new parking facilities are actually necessary.
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Yes, because this is INVENTING THE FUTURE!!! (Sarcasm)
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His name is Steve Mouras, not Mournas!
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Paving, paving everywhere, and not a place to park!
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I'd prefer to see the balance of spaces permanently shifted into Parking Garages vs. Surface Lots. Vertically, you cover less native earth, reduce run-off, heat absorbtion, etc...the garages are actually a great idea (less sprawl) but they should be built with enough capacity that there is no 'displacement' of spaces to the outer fringes. That's the only hitch in the plan.
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