The U is home to over 31,000 students from across the world. It’s no wonder that one of the biggest problems facing students is trying to maneuver to, from and around campus.
As new students at the U, just about everything is confusing. But getting to and around campus doesn’t have to be. Commuter Services offers options such as three different types of campus parking permits, a UTA pass and a free campus shuttle to help students reach their destinations on time.
Of all the available modes of transportation, driving personal vehicles seems to be the most practical and popular choice for students.
Parking permits are available for students to purchase for a semester or for the academic school year.
A CU pass is the most expensive permit, but allows students to park in the central parking garage, and all ‘U’ stalls that are the closest to the buildings on campus.
The U pass allows students to park in all ‘U’ stalls and after 3 p.m. ‘A’ (faculty) stalls as stated on signs.
Finally, the E pass is cheapest permit and allows students to park in ‘E’ stalls that are the farthest away from campus.
Students planning to purchase a parking permit can stop by campus before school starts and check out the parking lots to see which permit will work best for their schedule.
“Come up during the summer, familiarize yourself with how it works,” said Elaine Harris-Nelson, Administrative Manager over Commuter Services.
If purchasing a parking permit doesn’t work within a student’s budget, there are other options. The U and UTA work together to provide access to UTA buses, TRAX and Frontrunner. With the Ucard students can ride on any of these for free.
TRAX lines connect to cities such as Ogden, Draper and even Provo. With trains starting as early as 5:45 a.m. and running late as 11:00 p.m., TRAX runs often and can go just about wherever a student would like to venture (excluding PC/SLC Connect, Ski Service, and Paratransit).
TRAX drops off in Downtown Salt Lake City or on campus. Once on campus, the U campus shuttles are another mode of transportation to get students from one end of campus to the other.
Each shuttle is color-coded with a specific scheduled route. Online at commuterservices.utah.edu, there are route schedules and can track shuttles’ current locations. The increasing demand on the shuttle service is leading to new development for a more innovative and efficient system.
“We’re actually redesigning it right now,” said Communication Manager for Commuter Services, Shea Renner. “We’re going to roll out new routes for fall semester, so it will all be changing from what it is now. We’re trying to make it more efficient, get faster service and get people where they want to go faster.”
“We try to always encourage mass transit, obviously. We have a contract with UTA and we offer the bus pass at no additional cost to the students so we try to encourage them to take the bus or TRAX,” Renner said.
Stop by at the Commuter Services building during the day, or visit their website at http://commuterservices.utah.edu/. They will also be at summer orientation and have tabling events to provide students with all the information they need to get to campus and class on time.