RICHMOND, Va. -- More than 500 drivers who work or attend school at VCU and pay for parking will have to park a distance from their normal parking spots for the next several days, and that has many of them upset.
"It just doesn't make any sense to me why we have to move," VCU employee Marie Jackson said.
VCU's Siegel Center is hosting several high school graduations between June 6 and June 17, so they've asked Jackson and others to use three different parking garages than where they normally park.
While VCU will provide shuttle buses to and from those garages, Jackson said the drop off/pick up points are too far.
"So that's about a half a mile from our job site," Jackson said.
Jackson said she pays $75 a month for her parking garage, and she cannot believe VCU would give preference to folks coming in for the graduations at the expense of her and others who pay to park close to work and school.
"The guests should be parking far and should be transported here to the Siegel Center for their events," Jackson said.
Jackson wants the school to give her and other drivers a refund and to apologize for the inconvenience.
"We're still paying the same, but we have to park far," Jackson said.
Michael Porter, a spokesperson for VCU, said there will be three shuttles running on a continuous loop from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m., and from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m., which is when most employees are coming and going from work.
"From 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. employees can contact RamSafe to request a ride," Porter said.
He said the total number of parking subscribers who need to relocate is "465 in the West Broad Street Deck and 73 at the Bowe Street Deck."
The university has asked Jackson and others to use three different parking garages than where they normally park.
"Exceptions are being granted - allowing subscribers to park closer to their original deck for issues such as a mobility impairment, pregnancy, medical, workers required to travel between both campuses during the day or those with schedules that are outside of normal business hours. There have been about 50 complaints/requests for exceptions to the parking and transportation office and more than 20 exceptions have been approved," Porter said.
Porter said that "VCU Parking and Transportation reserves the right to relocate vehicles to alternate facilities as required for emergencies, construction, access, special event parking, and/or safety concerns."
Full details may be found here.
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