New Parking and Transportation Improvement Plan Implemented at Marist

Students listen to the details of the new Parking and Transportation plan described by Director of Safety and Security, Dan Gough. Photo by Hannah Tone '26.

On Sept. 10, Marist University’s Student Government Association hosted a Town Hall meeting regarding campus parking and transportation, in collaboration with the Office of Safety and Security. The discussion was led by Dan Gough, Marist’s director of Safety and Security, and SGA’s Vice President of Safety and Security, Brianna Perez-Quiroz ‘27.

Gough began his hour-long presentation by emphasizing, “We share the same goal. I want there to be ample and convenient parking on campus, just like you.” Gough encouraged students to weigh in and voice their opinions as well, acknowledging the need to make changes in the future. 

Gough started early last fall at Marist but has experience from St. George's in Venezuela as well as the University of California at San Diego, which he referenced when explaining that parking is an issue at nearly every college and university in the country. He displayed pictures from Indiana University in which not one spot was available, with text below reading “Parking has been a longstanding chief complaint by students, faculty and staff at Marist University. The Parking and Transportation Improvement Plan was developed to address this community-wide issue.”

From here, he delved into the details of what the Office of Safety and Security had done since his start at Marist to ensure better parking availability. Security conducted extensive research on parking on campus, including two four-week parking density surveys, which used drones to track usage, as well as a detailed analysis of parking permits and lot data. 

They also conducted focus groups, which collected both student and staff perspectives on parking availability and the possibility of creating a shuttle system. Additional insights came from parking appeals forms, along with ongoing meetings, phone calls and emails with both students and parents.

All of this research led to the implementation of the Parking and Transportation Improvement Plan. This plan implements the highly discussed new parking policy, as well as the new shuttle service and the MaristSafe app.

The new parking system features updated student and faculty parking permits and lot designations to better match housing locations and campus traffic. In the past, Gough acknowledged that West campus lots filled quickly, while East campus lots were often left with many open parking spots. 

Gough explained that students should have no problem finding parking on campus when abiding by the new system, showing the ratio between current spaces available in each section of campus to the number of permits provided by the Office of Safety and Security. For example, on East Campus, there are 494 parking spots at any given time, but only 232 parking permits have been given to students on East Campus, meaning less than half of the parking spots should be empty at any given time. He provided similar statistics for West Campus, commuters and exempt parking permits as well. 

A student asked, “What is the ratio of sophomores who qualify for a parking pass compared to those who already have passes in Gartland?” Gough responded by explaining that between students studying abroad and returning, parking availability should not pose a major problem when sophomores start qualifying for parking on campus. He added that Safety and Security would consider the benefits of offering different parking passes for Foy and Upper/Lower Townhouses to better distribute parking.

Gough also addressed a parking issue behind Ward and Lavelle, where a graduate student had been parking in the residence hall lots when visiting friends without an active permit. The student received 11 tickets and was booted that evening, with a warning that any further violations would result in the vehicle being towed. He added that we must have a community approach to the new policy by making sure our peers are parking in the correct areas.

Then, Gough highlighted the new shuttle system that was unveiled during the first week of classes. There are two different lines: the Academic Express and the Marist Loop. The Academic Loop stops at four locations on campus: 51 Fulton, Beck Place, Lowell Thomas and Fontaine. It averages a six to seven-minute commute from start to end.

The Marist Loop takes closer to 15 to 20 minutes, but it makes stops at 51 Fulton, Beck, Lowell Thomas, Fontaine, Tenney Stadium, McCann Center, Lower West and Marketplace. Gough explained that between the two shuttle lines, students should not have to wait longer than 3.5 minutes at a stop to board a shuttle. 

One student noted that, on top of struggling to find parking after her internship, she found that the shuttle took too long, forcing her to drop one of her classes in McCann. She asked if it would be advantageous to run the two shuttles in opposite directions to ensure students were getting where they needed to be faster.

Another student asked about better communication on lot closures, which led to a conversation about the new Marist Safe app, which features live shuttle tracking, a mobile blue light and information about parking, along with other features for students to utilize. 

Overall, the event brought a lot of perspective to parking and campus safety, allowing students to better understand why the new parking and transportation plan is influential to ensuring parking is available for all students.