Maroon permits were oversold by 74 percent this year after excluding two parking lots miles away from campus. One hundred and ninety-two maroon parking spaces are located at UMD's Natural Resources Research Institute — a 20-minute drive from campus. Another 47 maroon spots are located at a research lab 1.2 miles southeast of Kirby Plaza. Neither of the two lots are listed on Parking Services' website or displayed on the official campus parking map. There are no classrooms at either facility and both lots are mostly empty on a day-to-day basis, according to employees at each location. To calculate the adjusted oversell ratio, the Statesman excluded 239 maroon spaces located off-campus and excluded 110 maroon permits corresponding to the number of permanent employees associated with both off-campus facilities.
Parking Services Director Patrick Keenan told the Statesman that maroon and white permits were oversold by 41 percent this year. However, white permits alone were oversold by only 7 percent, so most of the oversell was maroon permits. Maroon permits were oversold by 53 percent, but that figure is 74 percent if off-campus lots and the cars that use them are excluded.
Perhaps that's why UMD junior Keely Lonetto has trouble finding a maroon spot on campus.
"Driving around for 10,15 or 20 minutes before class (trying to find a spot) is stressful," Lonetto said. "Being late because of the parking situation is not okay."
Desperate to get to class, Lonetto has parked in metered spots in maroon lots and incurred tickets. "It's not our fault we have to park (in metered spots). We shouldn't have to pay for a permit and a meter," she said. Maroon permits are $195 for the academic year and on-campus meters cost $1 per hour — 33 percent more expensive than meters in downtown Duluth.
Keenan oversells because of the transient nature of maroon permit holders and high demand.
"We have far more people who want permits than we have spaces available," Keenan said. He said overselling is a balancing act, and every year he tries to find the “sweet spot” so that lots are used efficiently.
Permits per space have fallen over the past several years, but Keenan did not outline an exact methodology for adjusting the ratio. He determines oversell percentage based on permit holders' feedback and an annual UMD Parking Services survey that counts empty spaces at various times throughout the day.
When asked if the off-campus maroon lots should be designated a different permit type, Keenan said: "It's worth looking at." He told the Statesman that re-classifying the lots may upset staff and faculty who work at the two off-campus locations, since a re-designation may force them to walk further when they visit campus.
Crowded parking lots have been a persistent problem at UMD, but building new lots is difficult for primarily two reasons. One, Parking Services is completely self-sufficient, and so any new lot would come out of their budget unless a special initiative was undertaken. According to UMN Reports, Parking Services had $1.3 million in revenues and $1.0 million of recurring cash expenditures during the 2014 fiscal year. Second, there is little space for a new surface lot, which would cost about $5,000 per parking space, so a parking structure would have to be built instead. That would likely cost $10 million to $12 million dollars, at $20,000 to $25,000 per space.
BY JOHN FAHNENSTIEL Statesman Correspondent