Recently, part of the parking lot at the Coliseum was closed to students in order to facilitate the construction of a new 878-bed apartment complex. Many students were angered and understandably complained about the loss of precious parking spaces to make room for the new building. The immediate reaction and suggestion of many students was to say that USC needs to construct more parking spaces and relax its seemingly aggressive ticketing practices. These proposals are a good start to the conversation, however, they cannot be the only answer to campus’ parking woes. More parking spaces could certainly be a part of the fix, however, the long-term solution needs to be much more comprehensive.
Constructing more parking spaces encourages developers to build more housing complexes relatively far from campus. For example, The Retreat is a very nice community, however, it is inefficient for a large portion of the student body to live there or in similarly distanced communities such as Copper Beech and The Woodlands. Students who live at The Retreat have the option of driving or taking the shuttle. Walking to class is simply not an option, unless you’re training for the military, or just have exorbitant amounts of free time to burn getting from one place to another. I personally prefer to take the shuttle, as the gas savings from not driving every day add up, and the shuttle drops off in more convenient locations than I could access by driving. However, the shuttle does not run late at night or on weekends, so for those situations I drive.
Many students are willing to accept the trade-off of being further from campus for the extra space per dollar that those communities provide. However, Columbia would greatly benefit from additional student housing within walking distance to campus. Among other benefits is a reduced dependence on driving. Students living at the Hub next year will make fewer car trips than those living across the Congaree River, or near Williams-Brice Stadium. This convenience unfortunately comes at a premium price. Allowing and encouraging developers to construct more high density residences similar to the Hub would increase competition, and drive down rent.
In addition to promoting high density developments near campus, multimodal transportation needs to be improved. The intersection improvements on Assembly Street corresponding with construction of the new Darla Moore School of Business are a good start, however more can be done. There is still very little bike infrastructure in place downtown. Bike lanes and signage would make it easier for students and residents to cycle in and around campus and reduce the demand for parking. Portland, Oregon provides a great example of this. Over the last decade, Portland has increased bike commuting by over 200 percent in part by constructing 180 miles of bike lanes. Columbia doesn’t have to be anywhere near as ambitious as Portland to begin alleviating parking problems, however, it would certainly benefit from moving in that direction.
Ultimately, no single solution is perfect. Building more parking garages is expensive and encourages people to live far from campus, bike lanes need time to catch on with people before they become popular, and building lots of high rises downtown puts pressure on emergency services, such as the fire and police department. For that reason, USC and the City of Columbia should tackle the campus parking shortage by implementing a wide range of improvements, rather than focusing on one individual fix.