- Employee
- 26/03/2025
Parking on campus becomes a problem after 9 AM
Driving around endlessly in search of a parking spot or even resorting to double parking – anyone planning on parking their car on campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays is in for a challenge. Before 9 AM, it’s not a problem, but not everyone can arrive that early.
When the weather is nice and it’s early in the morning, it’s not that bad. But in general, parking on the TU/e campus is not easy these days. The 2,494 parking spaces are nowhere near enough to accommodate all the employees and students who come to work by car. This remains the case despite the 2015 parking policy that was intended to discourage car use, with the most striking measure being the introduction of a daily two-euro parking fee.
“I think TU/e should provide adequate parking options for its employees,” says Simone Manche, management assistant at Applied Physics and Science Education. Until recently, she was lucky enough to live at a bikeable 6 kilometers from Flux, but since April, she has been living in Vessem. “The only form of public transportation is a local minibus which only comes once an hour at most. I have to travel 19 kilometers and even with an electric bike, that takes me an hour each way. I’m all for exercise and protecting the environment, but I’m not going to cycle for an hour through miserable weather when I own a car.”
No more P6
By the time Manche arrives at work, P6 is always full, and if there are no spaces left at De Zaale either, she parks her car on the grounds near the wind tunnel, though she says the area turns into a big pool of mud when it rains heavily. With the planned construction of the new cleanroom, she’s not optimistic about the situation.
Annelien Besijn, communications officer at Real Estate, confirms that the 143 parking spaces of P6 will have to go for this purpose. She adds that parking is still available at the MMS site, which is located on Celebeslaan at about a 15-minute walk from campus. There, 180 parking spaces are available to anyone with a TU/e card.
Manche has no intention of using that option. “It’s too far to walk and I don’t feel safe in the Berenkuil, which you’d have to pass through. I’ve heard the same from other people.” Parking concerns are a recurring topic of conversation among colleagues. “We also find it frustrating that the P6 parking lot is used by people from Fontys and Summa. They’re allowed to, of course, but it’s a bit of an annoyance.”
Guests
Anne-Marie van Hellemond works in MetaForum as a management assistant at ESA. When she invites candidates for a job interview, she always includes a footnote: Please note that our campus has a paid parking policy to discourage car use. If you plan on coming to our campus by car, please be sure to allow enough time for parking and walking to the location.
Van Hellemond takes the train to TU/e. “Beating the traffic out of Maarheeze isn’t an option because I have to take my kids to school. And if I leave after rush hour, there’s no parking space left.” During breaks, she often takes a walk around campus grounds with colleagues. “We always see cars parked on the grass next to the parking lot at Luna or halfway on the curb and road. I don’t think that’s allowed.”
Motorcycles
Finding parking space for a motorcycle isn’t always straightforward either, as Jasper Sterk, Research Assistant at Industrial Design, knows from experience. “If I arrive after 9 AM, or if I have to run an errand for ID in the middle of the day, or if I return from an emergency response course at Fenix, the motorcycle area at the Auditorium is always full. There are often many shared scooters parked there. In those cases, I just park in an unauthorized spot: closer to Atlas where I can see my motorbike from the office.” That doesn’t always work out: on Tuesday, he didn’t notice that security had placed a warning sticker on his motorcycle.
Sometimes, Sterk takes his electric car instead. “When everything is full, and there’s only a charging space available, I’ll park there, leaving the plug inactive at the charging station. I think a lot a people do the same.”
Alternative
Manche has a suggestion for TU/e: “Build parking garages. I used to work at the High Tech Campus and there are four parking garages there, which are nicely covered in greenery.” For now, she has found another solution: “I’m glad that my supervisor approved my request to work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays – the worst days when it comes to traffic.”
Real Estate is working on a new mobility plan for the campus, and parking will be a part of that. The communications officer expects it to be completed by the end of the year, by which time there will be more details to share about the future. She writes: ‘What we can say at this point is that the mobility plan will focus on ensuring enough spaces, but also on to how well the location meets the needs of users. In addition, the plan will naturally take into account the temporary situation during the construction work.’
Discussion