The survey’s results on parking options and student willingness to pay higher fees for better parking conducted in September by the Associated Students Inc. were discussed at Wednesday’s meeting.
The surveys were administered by senators, executives and student staff by offering bags of Skittles as incentives to random students who were walking by.
Students were asked eight questions about their parking situation and priorities; 146 of 23,882 students participated.
President Abigail Hudson explained the feedback and the different options there are to improve parking at Fresno State. She also noted that the data from the surveys is still a draft and not final.
A notable finding shows that students would be willing to pay more for a permit if there was better parking. A new parking structure also seemed to be a majority of students’ priority, she said.
Hudson explained that there will be a shuttle service under discussion. This service would help students to move around campus.
“They’re trying to finalize where this would exactly pickup and drop off based on how much it would cost,” said Hudson.
It is also being decided how long pick up times will be and what hours it will be in service.
“We hope that students use it, and we want to say that students will use it, but we honestly won’t know until we try it,” said Hudson.
The shuttle will start running in January from Day 1 of the semester, so that students know about it from the start.
Hudson also explained that a parking structure is also in the books for the next five to 10 years, but will be a high cost.
As of now, parking is $93 per semester, and if the university moves forward with the new parking structure, student parking fees would more than double to $200 per semester.
“We’re trying to find a middle ground and trying to look forward about what we can do about addressing that cost,” said Hudson.
Service lots are also being enlarged, making sure they all work the same way, which would cost around $5 million.
This would still increase student parking fees, but it would not be as drastic as building a new parking structure, Hudson added.