Where to Park on Campus? If you come after 10 o'clock you may not find a space at all!

The New York Times
By ZUSHA ELINSON
October 8, 2011

After winning a Nobel Prize on Tuesday, Saul Perlmutter, a physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, gave an energetic talk about his discovery that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace to a roomful of admirers and journalists.

Mr. Perlmutter received another distinction that comes with the prize: one of the very few permanently reserved and free parking spaces on the university’s busy campus.

“Probably the single most important thing about the Nobel Prize for most people is whether they get the coveted parking space on campus,” Mr. Perlmutter said.

The crowd erupted in howls of laughter as Chancellor Robert Birgenau leapt onto the stage and handed Mr. Perlmutter his golden Nobel laureate parking pass.

“Now, it’s all been worthwhile,” Mr. Perlmutter said.

He was joking — sort of.

The spots are the envy of all. Not even the chancellor gets a parking space that is free or reserved for life.

Parking is hard to find on the downtown Berkeley campus. The university has nearly 50,000 students, faculty and staff members at any given time, and only about 7,000 parking spaces to go around.

Parking permits have been wryly called “hunting licenses” because students and faculty members must often search at length for an available space, most of which are unassigned.

“If you come early enough in the morning, you can find a parking space,” said Robert Littlejohn, another physics professor. “But if you come after 10 or 11 o’clock, you might not find one at all.”

Mr. Littlejohn said he gave up driving to campus years ago. Instead, he rides a bicycle, in part, he said, to avoid the “parking hassles” and the cost of a faculty permit on central campus, nearly $1,500 a year. Read More

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