More than 100 faculty and staff who have been on the waiting list for center campus parking spaces have been offered an opportunity to join the more than 400 colleagues who have already pasted an academic core parking sticker on their car windows.

William Barrett, director of administrative and logistical services, says the additions to the academic core parking cohort should begin to fill the newly built parking lot on Dow Field, which now has spaces available.

In anticipation of making center campus a pedestrian-oriented area in the near future, the University has restricted access to center campus parking. Simultaneously, the University's shuttle service has nearly doubled the number of runs its buses make, and new parking lots and waiting areas have been built.

The changes grew partly from suggestions made by consultants who, after nearly two years of research, next week are expected to offer the final draft of a master campus building plan that will take University planners well into the next century.

Once the new restricted stickers are issued, Barrett says parking staffers and the University Parking Advisory Committee will have a better idea whether the center campus area, which has about 540 spaces, can be overbooked or whether all 540 restricted permit holders will fill the available spaces.

So far, he says, the Storrs experience has followed national trends.

"Our research around the country indicated that no more than 60 percent to 70 percent of faculty, staff and commuters are on campus at any one time. So far, our experience seems to be tracking that trend," he says.

Barrett says there have been discussions about overbooking - distributing more permits than there are spaces - but that officials are "moving cautiously" in order to ensure that those who hold permits will still be able to park in the restricted areas. "Until we move this large group in and see how many spaces are still available, we're not going to make any changes," he said.

Richard Veilleux