Issue Briefs: Parking: Student Satisfaction

Every five years, the CSU system conducts the “Student Needs and Priorities Survey” (SNAPS). The survey asks students to rank the importance and quality of various aspects of their educational experience—54 campus functions, activities and services. The last SNAPS was in 1999; its results reveal that students rank parking as 18th in “importance” and 54th in “quality.” The survey didn’t identify why students placed parking last in the quality ranking, but campus surveys demonstrate that satisfaction ratings generally improve as ratio of parking spaces per student increases and vice versa.

During the late 1990s CSU did not increase parking spaces apace with growing student enrollment and employee hiring. In response to the backlog, the current Capital Improvement Program, 2003/04 through 2007/08, includes an unprecedented number of campus-identified, non-state-funded parking projects. The Program includes plans to construct over 24,000 parking spaces systemwide; however, in the same period, the number of students and employees is projected to grow by over 50,000, so that the 24,000 additional spaces will make only a small impact on backlogged demand.