Binghamton University commuters can now get cheaper parking permits … with one catch: You have to bring two other friends with you.
Parking Services is offering high occupancy vehicle (HOV) parking permits for three students or more who commute to campus together. This is a pilot program and if successful will be picked up fully next year.
The parking permits will still cost $120, but can now be split by groups of students who will be driving to campus together.
“Instead of having a permit for each of you, you can all decide to split it and use that permit to bring one car on campus,” said Deputy Chief Daniel Chambers of Binghamton’s New York State University Police. “This way you save on money, and we save on parking spots and reduce our carbon footprint.”
As an added bonus, parking spots on the upper deck of the parking garage and across from the library will be reserved every day for those with HOV permits.
HOV permits are restricted to students and faculty who are known to be driving to and from campus and customers of Parking Services for at least a year.
However, Chambers noted that “if it’s a freshman who shows us that they have a car, that would work too.”
“We just want to make sure it’s not the people coming by bus right now, which would defeat the purpose,” he said.
When the permit users need to drive to campus on their own, they can use one of the five parking coupons each rider is given with the purchase of the permit. Once they run out of their coupons, they will be required to pay the normal $5 per day rate.
“There are days where you can’t drive in together because you have a doctor’s appointment, so you hand off the permit and you come in on your own with the coupon,” Chambers explained.
This idea came after the administration’s Transportation Task Force surveyed off-campus students on how the economic downturn affected them.
While the results are expected some time this spring, it is an example of the administration’s concern for both commuter and environmental welfare.
“The president’s office has signed off on the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which is a big push from President [Lois] DeFleur to go green,” said JoAnn Navarro, the associate vice president for administrative services. “The administration is looking at a variety of initiatives to go green.”
The new permit was just introduced this month, and while there have been no purchases yet, there is a limited number of permits issued during this pilot program. Students or faculty interested in purchasing an HOV permit should contact Parking Services at (607) 777-2279.