According to students, parking in Oakland remains a challenge — whether they have a parking permit or not.
On-campus parking is available for Pitt students, faculty and staff through the University, and off-campus parking in Oakland is obtained through the Pittsburgh Parking Authority. Some Oakland commuters have reported a lack of available parking spaces, even if they have an allotted permit.
Demand for parking permits is strong every year, according to University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer. Waitlists can also be extensive, with requests for certain lots dating back as far as February 2000.
While application volume is consistently high, Stonesifer said the number of student parking applications has remained relatively constant over recent years, including this year with the largest ever first-year class.
Some first-year students with cars, including Elijah Remis, a law, criminal justice and society major, didn’t think it was worth attempting to apply for a parking permit.
“I haven’t [looked into applying],” Remis said. “I just hate driving as it is, and parking. So doing it in the City, in a big school — it’s just way too much for me.”
Remis is not the only commuter who doesn’t see the worth in applying for a permit. James Patterson, a third-year electrical engineering major, hasn’t applied for a permit for a number of reasons, including the general application process.
“I’ve looked into [applying for a permit] but figured that it was way too complicated to try to, so I decided against it,” Patterson said. “Looking into it and finding that there were all those factors, such as waitlist, varying prices, different locations — also figuring out a specific location to park at, it’s not very straightforward on the Pitt website. Actually, that’s probably the main issue — that it’s not very straightforward at all.”
Oakland parking permits not affiliated with the University are just as complicated to handle, according to Emma Check, a senior biology major. Check commuted to Pitt last summer and obtained a parking permit through the Pittsburgh Parking Authority. Even though she had a permit, Check said her lot would still fill up before she got there.
“I parked at the top by Sutherland near the field house. A lot of health care workers also parked there, so it filled up pretty quickly, even if I’d get there at a good time,” Check said. “My lecture was at 10 a.m., so a lot of people were already parked there, and it’s straight up a hill. It’s very inaccessible.”
Stephanie Pozega, a senior biology major, brought her car to Oakland for the first time this year. Although she has a parking permit through the Pittsburgh Parking Authority on her street in South Oakland, she still tries to drive as little as possible.
“This is the first year I’ve brought my car, but not because I didn’t have one — because I didn’t feel like dealing with where to park a car. It’s so hard,” Pozega said. “I always dread having to drive somewhere, [like] if I have a doctor’s appointment, because somebody’s going to steal my spot on the street. Then I’m going to have to drive around for an extra 30 minutes. I just can’t imagine actually commuting to and from every day, because where are you gonna park?”
Check also expressed the stress she felt commuting to and from Oakland everyday during the summer, even with her parking permit.
“It was just stressful thinking about, ‘Okay, I have to get here at least an hour early so I can get a parking spot, so I don’t have to pay more than I already paid for the permit.’ Meaning, if I can’t park where my permit is, I’d have to pay for the street parking — and that’s silly. That’s stupid,” Check said.
For commuter students who do not have parking permits, Pitt launched its own parking app in December called Pitt Park. According to Stonesifer, Pitt Park prioritizes Pitt-affiliated commuters.
“Our main goal in launching Pitt Park was to give our students, faculty and staff priority when reserving parking in our lots and garages,” Stonesifer said. “You must have access to Pitt’s single sign-on to use Pitt Park.”
The opening of additional spaces to alleviate Oakland’s capacity constraints is in the works. The development of the upcoming Fifth and Halket building, which will be used by the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, will bring an expansion to campus parking options on the ground floor. According to Stonesifer, parking plans for this building are not yet finalized.
Despite these recent and upcoming changes, some students are not feeling a difference in parking availability or quality on campus and report a lack of awareness of their full range of options.
“I haven’t even noticed a change, if I’m gonna be honest,” Check said. “I never knew people could park [at Posvar garage] — I thought it was literally maintenance cars that went in there, and that’s where they parked.”
Pozega was also unaware of parking updates and availability.
“I didn’t know anybody was working on changes,” Pozega said. “I thought only employees [could park in Posvar]. I always see either Pitt maintenance trucks coming in and out, and then it looks like what would be a professor. I see people going in all the time — I just didn’t know we had access to it.”
Stonesifer highlighted available parking locations for students, given the closing of parking permit sales for this semester.
“Daily parking is available at Panther Hollow, Soldiers and Sailors Garage, Sennott Square and the OC lot. Hampton Inn and Pennsylvania Apartments were added this year as commuter parking options,” Stonesifer said. “Multiple metered lots are available throughout campus for short term parking. Several University locations are available through the Pitt Park app reservations.”
Stonesifer urged students and faculty to consult the full list of parking options at Pitt.
“As an urban campus, space constraints will always affect parking availability,” Stonesifer said. “The University is aware that parking is an area of concern for many in our community, and we continue working to make progress, communicate clearly and identify solutions that reflect our shared needs and goals.”