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No decisions on parking due until Spring 2002


Two top Carolina administrators say the campus will get the chance to weigh in on possible changes to the parking and transportation system here, and no decisions have been made on the topic.

In an e-mail message sent Dec. 7 to faculty, staff and students, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert Shelton and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Nancy Suttenfield outlined the process the campus will follow as it considers changes.

The University's Transportation and Parking Advisory Committee (TPAC) now is collecting data and discussing options that Carolina might pursue to best meet its parking and transportation needs. The panel is not scheduled to complete its work until early in the Spring 2002 semester.

"While possible changes to resident-student parking and the institution of a night-parking program have received much attention, it is important to note that TPAC also has been charged with evaluating numerous other options, such as changes in permit allocation and improvements in transit service," Shelton and Suttenfield wrote.

TPAC, following past practice, in the Spring semester will host forums on campus to solicit input from faculty, staff and students, and it also will submit a package of recommendations to the University administration. Final recommendations will be taken to the University Board of Trustees in March 2002. Any changes would not take effect before August 2002, and "some could be for subsequent years," Shelton and Suttenfield wrote.

Changes are expected.

"With demand growing in the face of a net decline in available parking, we will have to make changes. But these changes will not be made without giving you a chance to provide input," the message promised.

The two administrators also said that "changes will not be made without providing you more alternatives to parking on campus."

Such alternatives include increased park-and-ride service, as well as fare-free bus service, which will take effect in January 2002.


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