Fight for parking permits continues. Photo by Delaney Hudson.
BELLA BUSSONE | STAFF REPORTER | bbussone@butler.edu
As students return to campus for the new academic school year, so does the chaos of hunting down a place to park. Another year goes by with limited parking options for Butler students, causing frustration amongst the student body.
Parking permit registration went live on July 20 at 9:30 a.m., but unfortunately, many students did not get the outcome they had hoped for.
Taylor Deitrich, a sophomore creative media and entertainment major, said that because of her marching band involvement, she needs a readily available car to move drums and other instruments.
“I was on the [parking] site when the parking passes went live, and I was trying to get myself a B pass,” Dietrich said. “I put all my information in, and within a few minutes, the B pass was sold out.”
With parking permits selling out in July, this means increased challenges for the many transfer students Butler welcomes. Junior international studies major Chase Schulte is a spring 2023 transfer student. Schulte received 12 parking violations and a tow in one semester after being denied an Apartment Village parking permit, experiencing firsthand the lack of parking Butler offers.
“Once my mom and I got over our initial frustration, we started to look into alternative methods of parking,” Schulte said. “We looked into garage passes and neighborhood parking, but the nearest viable option was about two miles away in a parking garage.”
To aid this continuing issue, Butler created a new permit this year titled G5, which allows its owner to primarily park their vehicle on the fifth floor of the parking garage. This permit is a new initiative to help with the current overflow of demand, but it is still in the pilot phase. The G5 permit costs $295 for the entire school year, the same amount as the widely coveted B permit that allows students to park near residence halls, I lot and the sixth floor of the parking garage. Junior arts administration major Maggie Sapyta had to default to the G5 permit and believes the new concept comes with some pros and cons.
“It is nice that my car is covered because I didn’t get that with my B pass,” Sapyta said. “But for certain special events we have to move our cars, and even if I do move my car, there aren’t many other options.”
Students are instructed where to move their cars on a case by case basis, in accordance with the type of event being held and the demand for parking at the time.
Despite the low supply of spots and a higher demand for them, Butler finished the construction of four new pickleball courts on the north side of the Sellick Bowl between the Butler Bubble and Apartment Village.
“Although pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the nation, it did not deserve its own court – especially at the expense of tens to hundreds of people parking,” Schulte said.
These frustrations with even obtaining parking permits are in addition to the newly instated price increases Butler University’s Office of Parking and Transportation Services put in place for the 2023-24 academic year. The increased price was partially due to the high demand of students seeking permits.
As the student body anxiously awaits solutions to limited parking, they can access alternative transportation options such as electric scooters, IndyGo, a partnership with Uber and Dawg Ride.
