Responding to complaints from parking pass holders — and needing to accommodate construction vehicles — USC Transportation announced last week that they will no longer be offering same-day reservation passes or daily passes for Parking Structure A on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The decision to eliminate same-day passes and daily passes on Tuesdays and Thursdays was made to ensure students with semester parking permits are always able to find parking in the lot located on McClintock Ave. and Downey Way, and includes the office of the Department of Public Safety.

Parked · Parking Structure A will no longer offer day passes for drivers on Tuesdays or Thursdays in an effort to solve cramped parking. - Mike Lee | Daily Trojan

“These are the two busiest days as it pertains to traffic and parking demand on campus,” Tony Mazza, director of USC Transportation, wrote in an email. “By making this adjustment to our policy we eliminated the capacity issues and are providing a much higher level of customer service for students who have purchased fall 2009 permits for PSA as well as faculty and staff parking in the structure.”

Students said they had noticed that overcrowding had become a problem.

“Some people just cannot park. I see at least three cars taking two parking spaces and that’s just on one side of the parking lot,” said Lois Lee, a sophomore majoring in architecture.

Additionally, as work on the Ronald Tutor Campus Center continues, USC Transportation has had to make room on the roof area of PSA to park around 150 vehicles from the Tutor-Saliba construction company. These spaces will be reserved for construction vehicles until all work is completed.

“Parking Structure A was selected during the negotiation process by USC Capital Construction and the various union contractors due to its proximity to the actual job site,”Mazza wrote.

Students who park in PSA say overcrowding is an issue, and not only in terms of cars.

“At about 12 or 1 in the afternoon is when workers come in and it gets busier,” said Yongsuck Joo, a junior majoring in business administration. “The elevator gets crowded and it takes more time to go in and out of the building.”

The Transportation office has received complaints about the parking situation in PSA, but feels the new policies are reducing the effects of those problems.

“The complaints we received stemmed from the overcrowding in PSA and students, faculty, and staff not being able to locate a spot in the structure,” Mazza wrote. “Since making the adjustments to our policies, the issues have subsided.”

Mazza also pointed out that parking problems can be amplified because some drivers park in campus structures even though they don’t have the appropriate parking pass.

“Although our parking demand is high, the situation is exacerbated by the amount of illegal parking that takes place on campus,” Mazza wrote. “We have enough space to accommodate each of our customers but it is important that each of us respects the Parking Rules and Regulations to ensure a smooth experience.”