University Parking Study: Prove the Real Number Before You Build
Most campus parking shortages are management problems, not supply problems. Well-run permit systems sell 1.1 to 1.3 permits for every physical space (standard industry practice; the right ratio is verified against local occupancy data) because not everyone parks at once. When the lots feel full and the field counts say otherwise, the answer is measurement and policy, not concrete. An aboveground structured space costs roughly $29,000 to $99,000 to build, land excluded (UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies), which makes an unneeded deck the most expensive way to answer a perception problem.
The situation
A campus is a closed micro-city: commuters, residents, faculty and staff, visitors, and gameday crowds, each with its own peak. Freshman car bans move demand around rather than remove it. Transportation demand management mandates arrive attached to master-plan approvals, so enrollment growth and new buildings are conditioned on hitting mode-split targets. Decks age toward capital decisions. And the perceived shortage rarely matches the field data, which is why the first deliverable of a credible university parking study is a count, not a rendering.
What is at stake
Three questions decide the program. How far can permits oversell against measured occupancy before the complaints are justified. How does gameday run without breaking the weekday system. And how does the institution meet the TDM conditions attached to its growth. Answer those with data and the deck decision often defers itself, along with its $29,000-per-space floor.
How JDE works higher education
- Occupancy and adequacy counts. Field data by lot, hour, and user group, set against permit sales and LPR records.
- Permit management and oversell calibration. Ratios set from measured behavior, by lot and by group, not from complaint volume.
- Gameday and special-event planning. Pricing, staffing, and egress designed for the surge and kept out of the weekday system's way.
- TDM program design. Mode-split measurement, program levers, and the annual reporting that satisfies master-plan conditions.
- Deck triage and PARCS procurement. Repair, replace, or retire, with owner-side management if the answer is build.
The record JDE brings to campus
JDE's proof here is firm-wide and stated as such: 850+ parking projects, 500,000+ spaces managed, 150+ comprehensive audits, a 5 to 10x average audit ROI, and delivery across all 50 states plus Canada and Mexico. The counting and audit discipline built in municipal, airport, and institutional systems is the same discipline a campus system needs. These are JDE figures, documented in JDE project records.
Frequently asked questions
What does a university parking study include?
Occupancy and turnover counts by lot, hour, and user group; permit sales set against physical capacity; mode split; event and gameday demand; and a permit, pricing, and enforcement plan. The test of the study is whether its numbers hold up in front of a skeptical faculty senate.
How many permits can a campus sell per space?
Commonly 1.1 to 1.3, but the honest answer is measured, not quoted. The right ratio varies by lot, user group, and class schedule, and it moves as commuting patterns change. LPR permit systems make the verification continuous instead of annual.
How does parking meet TDM requirements in a campus master plan?
TDM conditions are commitments to move mode split, so the parking program has to price, allocate, and report toward those targets. Permit pricing, oversell policy, and transit and micromobility incentives are the levers. Measurement is what turns them from promises into compliance.
Count first, build second
Send permit sales and lot inventory. JDE will tell you whether you have a supply problem or a management problem, and what either one costs. Contact JDE.
Sources
- Permit oversell ratios of 1.1 to 1.3 per space reflect standard industry practice rather than a single published statistic; verify against campus occupancy data before planning use.
- Schwartz, Ellen, "No Such Thing as Free Parking: Construction Costs in 17 U.S. Cities," UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, February 2026, DOI 10.17610/T62G75: aboveground structured parking averaged about $52,000 per space across 17 U.S. cities, ranging from about $29,000 (Phoenix and Washington DC) to about $99,000 (Portland), land excluded. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9f88x32n
- JDE figures on this page are firm-wide JDE records, not campus-specific case studies, and are not blended with third-party statistics.