This article was originally published in the June 2018 Princeton Echo.
People frustrated by parking in downtown might be tempted to blame Princeton University for their problems. Those problems are sometimes unavoidable, certainly during big events like Reunions, graduation, and the occasional sports event.
Municipal engineer Deanna Stockton says that the university is adding to the parking problem in town, particularly on the tree streets, because students and faculty who don’t want to use the university lots instead park in areas of town with no meters or time limits. Recommendations are expected in the summer or fall. “There are so many competing needs, concerns about sustainability and quality of life; if you don’t allow overnight parking, fewer people may buy a second car who live in that area; so you reduce the number of cars. But to live in New Jersey you sometimes need two incomes and two cars,” says Stockton. “We are working closely with the university to see how to resolve those conflicts.”
Thanks to the new smart meters, the town will soon have other options, including increasing rates at times of maximum demand.
But beyond that, the university is taking action to not only reduce parking in town, but to also reduce parking on the campus. Under a plan expected to take effect in the fall of 2020, the university will literally offer to pay its staff to leave their cars at home, and to charge those who need to park them on campus. As the university describes its new “Revise Your Ride” initiative, Princeton “is at a crossroads — achievement of our top strategic priorities is in direct conflict with our driving culture. Parking logistics are an impediment to the fulfillment of the university mission, both in terms of land use and finances. In order to ease this obstacle, we are seeking to reduce the number of single occupancy vehicles on campus over the next few years before the introduction of a fee-based parking program.”
The university will use both a carrot and a stick. Faculty and staff who bike or walk to campus will get a $400 annual cash incentive. Those who use the train will get a 50 percent reimbursement of their rail pass; bus riders will get a free bus pass on NJ Transit. Carpoolers will receive a $400 annual cash incentive. Van poolers will get a $200 annual incentive plus exclusive use of a university-owned van.
But if you have to drive alone to work and need a parking space on campus, there will be a fee-based parking program. What that fee will be has not yet been determined, but the fee for students might be instructive. Only a limited number of students — those with a compelling need that cannot be met by other transportation options — are now permitted to have cars on campus. They park in a lot relatively far from the main campus, near Faculty Road. The annual fee: $300.
One cutting edge advance that will not happen in Princeton for now is progressive pricing. Smart meters can be programmed with a dynamic pricing system that gets away from time limits and enforcement and increases the hourly rate the longer you stay parked. This system is in place at some locations in New Brunswick, where the first two hours cost $1.50 an hour. It then increases gradually to $7 an hour for the eighth hour — a grand total of $30 in you want to tie up that space for eight hours.
“The consultant is not looking to put in the pay-and-stay model — they recommend that we keep time limits,” says Stockton.
(File photo of Princeton University’s campus.),
