1. Joe Crain
Campus Issue
As the amount of parking spaces decline, the cost to park on campus is on the rise. Since
last year, the cost of parking permits has steadily increased and will continue for years to come.
Students currently pay $75 for a yellow pass to park in holding lots per semester or $150 for the
entire year. For surface lots, students pay $125 per semester for a blue pass or $250 for the
year.
Faculty parking is similar but also less in some circumstances. Until June 30, 2016, red
surface lot parking for employees is $75 and only $30 for those that carpool.
Lt. Ben Spilman, director of Parking and Transportation Services for the Oxford Police
Department, has been at the epicenter of calls, complaints and emails related to the parking
problem on campus. Spilman believes that there are enough parking spaces for students and
Miami isn’t designed to deal with large amounts of traffic.
“Miami is a very pedestrian campus. It’s pedestrian friendly and we have a really good
transit system. It’s not practical for students to drive from class to class.”
Spilman’s voice exudes with a slight annoyance while speaking about the traffic around
campus. When there is more traffic around campus, there are more problems for Spilman and
the Oxford Police Department to deal with. “If students try to drive to each class, we have a lot
of pedestrian and traffic conflicts. The more cars we can take out of the equation, the better.”

2. In the past five years, Miami has added quite a bit of parking around campus. The goal
has been to move parking to the outskirts of campus so there is less traffic at the campus’s
core. There have been 450 spaces added near Chestnut Street.
One of the reasons why parking had to evolve is because students would park outside of
buildings like Bachelor Hall. Spilman said these parking spots are meant to be for employees but
changes had to happen because students that were parking there was a problem. “When this
problem was prevalent, faculty would get to Bachelor and there would be no spaces.”
Spilman assured me that Miami isn’t raising the cost of parking and tickets for the sake
of doing so. “We want to make compliance less expensive and permits are a lot lower than
other institutions,” he said.
While it may sound like Miami is doing the best they can to keep parking prices down
and plenty of spaces available, some students remain skeptical.
Ariel Wiley, senior, feels that not enough has been done to combat parking problems
that students may encounter. “I live 20 minutes from campus and sometimes I have to walk.
When I have a lot of video equipment to carry around, I want to be able to park and not have to
carry 20 pounds of equipment.”
Wiley was denied any kind of parking pass and was quick to point out that “they’re for
faculty and international students. It’s all about circumstance and who the person is. It varies
why someone may need to drive.”

3. Despite the complaints about the amount of spaces currently available, Greg Hardewig,
senior, thinks the solution could be for Miami to spend more money on parking. “I feel like they
should build onto the existing garages,” Hardewig suggested. “I think one reason why they
haven’t done that is because they’re too preoccupied with projects like the Armstrong Center.”
When the parking garages were built, they were built on 30 year bonds. Both garages
have seen various improvements over the years, including lighting upgrades.
Spilman seemed surprised and shook his head when I mentioned the idea of building
onto the existing garages. “Constructing new ones would cost $20-25,000 per space. They
aren’t feasible unless they can be sustainable,” Spilman exclaimed.
One of the frequent problems that Spilman has had to face has been the constant
construction around campus. “The biggest challenge is construction when it takes way parking
for the campus. Despite the complaints about the quantity of parking, we have adequate
parking for daily activity.”
As the cost of parking permits continue to rise over the next few years, maybe more
students will find alternate transportation to campus and Miami will remain more like the
pedestrian campus that Spilman believes it should be.
Ben Spilman – bspilman@MiamiOH.edu
Ariel Wiley – Wileyas@miamioh.edu
Greg Hardewig – (513) 484-5455