RHA, MSA work to lower parking costs
Jim Joy, MU Parking and Transportation Services director spoke with RHA about its resolution.
Published Oct. 20, 2009
Jim Joy, director of MU Parking and Transportation Services, spoke with the Residence Halls Association on Monday about a joint resolution passed by RHA and the Missouri Students Association over concerns about high parking prices.
"When I saw the resolution saying, 'I wanna pay less,' I just had to laugh out loud," Joy said. "There are many people wondering why you don't pay more."
Joy has been at MU for 34 years, dealing with many of the same issues about parking. He has been proactive in working to create sufficient parking spaces and a fair parking system to govern available spaces.
"Everything around the football field, all of that parking was gravel and empty," Joy said. "Because six days of the year it was used for football, and belonged to the athletics department."
Joy went to the athletics department and requested to allow him to manage the spaces near the football stadium.
"I'll pave them, I'll put lights on them, I'll maintain them, I'll collect the revenue from them," Joy said. "And six days of the year, I'll clear them so you can have football. That (policy) still exists today."
Joy also said all students are inconvenienced equally for lack of parking spaces and it's something that comes with life at a university.
"Every day of the week someone gets inconvenienced, sometimes with no warning whatsoever," Joy said.
He said some inconveniences are bigger than others.
"Last year, for the centennial celebration of the J school, Hitt Street Garage was cleared for one week," Joy said.
He said every day someone has a program that impacts parking spaces in some way.
RHA President Rachael Feuerborn clarified the reason for the resolution.
"It's not about moving the cars," Feuerborn said. "The cars will always be moved. It's all about the money and what we pay. Like I've said 100 times, it's a marketing system, people paying more to park closer and paying less to park farther away."
Emily Garner, chairwoman of the Campus and Community Relations Committee, emphasized MSA's goals of reducing student's fees all around.
Although her concerns at the beginning of the semester were to try to solve tailgating issues with Reactor Field, she said she would now focus her efforts on parking.
"I haven't done anything personally with it," Garner said. "It's a goal for my committee this semester to meet with Jim Joy. We want to find out facts, as to where exactly the money is going, to see if there's a way to make things cheaper."
Joy, who knows policies of other universities, also brought up their parking situations.
"Ohio State doesn't allow cars for neither freshmen nor sophomores," Joy said. "Football players and other athletes are the exceptions."
Garner wanted to know why parking is so expensive in the first place.
"We don't know why it's so expensive to park in metered lots," Garner said. "A quarter gets you 15 minutes. I think the university should let the students know where the money is going."
Feuerborn was pleased with the feedback Joy provided and said the fight will continue.
"I think Joy had a really good presentation, he gave us a lot of facts and will help us tweak the resolution," Feuerborn said. "We're going to keep with it and keep trying to make some changes with parking."
Joy pointed out parking is limited for everyone.
"I never required you to bring a car here," Joy said. "If you don't, you're not hurting my feelings."
