The occupancy or utilization of parking facilities on and around the UC Berkeley campus was surveyed by staff from the UC Berkeley Office of Parking and Transportation in both the Spring and Fall of 2009. Walking surveys of lots conducted during peak hour (12:001:00 pm) over several weekdays give a sense of the overall utilization of each lot, facility, and area available for vehicle parking on the UC Berkeley campus.12 The Fall 2009 counts reveal that overall parking utilization peaked at 5,367 spaces, or 70.7% of the total 7,593 spaces available (Note that both the occupancy and capacity figures used in this calculation include attended parking). Figure 9 graphically illustrates these data, showing parking occupancy and supply by lot for all major campus parking facilities, as well as those off-campus facilities which are available to the public (and for which data are available).
The total parking occupancy figures by lot, for the entire campus, provide a picture of the overall utilization of parking facilities on campus, and can help the University identify areas specific lots that are oversubscribed or underutilized during the peak hour. However, this map and the overall occupancy figures provided do not offer a complete depiction of parking demand, or the availability of parking facilities from a user’s perspective.
Parking demand is a function of both the attractiveness of the University and adjacent land uses as a destination, the price of parking, and the price and attractiveness of alternatives to driving and parking on campus. For many commuters (in fact the majority of users) the most attractive alternative for accessing campus, given these considerations, is to take public transit, walk, or ride a bicycle. For others, the favored option might be to park in a City or privately-owned (but available to the public) facility