UH Parking and Transportation uses an industry standard practice called oversell, which means selling more permits than there are spaces.
Why oversell permits?
The main reasons for practicing oversell is to distribute the cost of parking among more people and to use the parking spaces efficiently so that more faculty, staff and students have the ability to park on campus.
On a university campus, students and even faculty and staff have varying schedules, so it doesn’t make sense to sell one permit for each space. If we did that, most permit types would cost almost double the price they are now and many spaces would sit empty throughout the day.
By sharing spaces with others who have a different schedule than you, you are splitting the price of all of the costs associated with the parking spaces. More information about department costs and permit pricing can be found on the Word on the Street blog post from September 2017.
Navigating parking availability
While oversold permits may mean you have to look for a spot and you may not find a space in the lot closest to your building, there are open spaces available.
For example, those with a Student Permit should note that Lot 8A has not been full at any point in the fall 2017 semester. Students who don’t want to spend time searching for a space should try going to Lot 8A or one of the other lots that experience less traffic. Even if this lot is not the closest to their destination, they should consider the time and stress saved by not searching for a spot in one of the busier lots.
Read the rest of the article about parking permit oversell at Word on the Street, Parking and Transportation’s blog.