Students at the University of Kentucky have faced parking trouble since the 2025-26 academic year began.
Some students expressed concerns about the lack of parking spots available and construction adding time to commutes, according to an online survey conducted by the Kentucky Kernel.
“There are very few options for people who are commuters. Practically everything at UK is designed for on-campus residents,” senior Annica Johnson wrote. “The rest of us get the short end of the stick, we are left to just suck it up and figure it out.”
Oversold lots
Commuter parking spots are typically oversold at a ratio of 2-1, and sometimes 2.5-1, meaning for every one parking spot available, there are typically two permits sold, according to Lance Broeking, executive director of auxiliary services and transportation services.
He said residential student parking is sold at a ratio of 1-1, with employee healthcare parking being oversold by 25%-30%.
Since commuters and employees are not all parking at the university simultaneously, Broeking said overselling these lots was an attempt to be as efficient as possible.
“Every student that is a student resident is in their bed at night at the same time, and so we can’t oversell that (residential lots),” Broeking said. “It’s a bit of an art, you know, as to how much we can oversell areas without experiencing max occupancy.”
Cailin Kernan, a junior geography student at UK who commutes to campus and parks at Kroger Field, said she noticed that the lot was “already filled up” by 10 a.m.
She said overselling parking spots is “part of the problem” behind why students experience parking trouble, but it didn’t surprise her that UK did so.
“It’s annoying to have to drop, like, $200 … it’s a periphery permit, but still,” Kernan said. “And then, you know, have to face the fact that it’s full half the time if you don’t get here soon enough.”
Potential solutions and plans
More parking spots will be available for students as construction projects are completed, easing some of the pressure on UK’s parking infrastructure, Broeking said.
He said UK is currently working on adding 1,200 more parking spaces to the Sports Center Garage (PS #7).
“It was a roughly 600-space parking garage, and we’re tripling the size of the garage,” Broeking said. “The vast majority of those spaces we’re anticipating will go to student parking going into next year.”
He said residential parking spots will be available coinciding with the new residence hall on south campus, expected to open in fall 2026.
Broeking said students and employees should evaluate their “true access needs” to help reduce parking difficulties on campus.
He said this may include carpooling and using public transit when possible, as well as considering alternative forms of transportation such as walking or biking.
“In a perfect world, I would love people to be more mindful of what their individual impact is on the overall system, and, you know, collectively work together to improve the situation,” Broeking said.
Currently, UK has incentive programs to encourage students to commute to campus without driving, according to Broeking.
He said the university has a partnership with LexTran to allow anyone with a UKID to ride for free, and bike vouchers for students who are willing to agree not to purchase a parking permit for two years.
“If we can incentivize somebody not to bring a car to campus, and that’s one less parking space we have to build,” Broeking said. “It’s much more cost advantageous to do that.”
The costs of building more parking spots could impact parking permit rates, which is one of the reasons Broeking said they were looking into alternative methods to improve parking on campus.
“We’re being very mindful of tuition rates and student fees,” Broeking said.
Abby Colon, a senior forestry major, said she drives from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, resulting in a total three-hour commute each day she comes to campus.
Over the years, Colon said parking at UK has become easier in her experience, as she doesn’t have to leave as early in the morning to find a spot.
“It’s a lot better because there’s not as much rushing,” Colon said. “I can actually sleep in a little bit if I decide to.”
Impacts of construction
With UK seeing an “unprecedented” amount of construction, Broeking said these projects also impact the current parking situation.
In addition to projects occurring on or near parking locations, they bring an influx of construction workers who also need a place to park on campus.
“That is an added component that’s competing for the same spaces,” Broeking said. “I think all these things compete to kind of create an environment that just is frustrating to people.”
While construction projects may lead to some parking spots becoming temporarily unavailable, it could lead to more parking spaces in the long run, according to Broeking.
“We’ve had some construction going on in some of our parking garages that will open up several hundred more parking spaces,” Broeking said.
