To President Cauce,

We are writing to you to ask that you reconsider the plan to eliminate free parking for critical staff, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, that need to  work on campus. Laboratory research staff, including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and research scientists, have been on the front lines during the COVID pandemic. Without their work, research at UW would grind to a halt. This will mean loss of funding for many labs. The disruption to thesis and postdoctoral work causes undue stress and anxiety for our trainees. They deserve our continued support, including access to safe transportation options to get to work.

In normal times, many laboratory research staff use public transportation to commute into work. However, in the current COVID-19 situation, riding the bus isn’t a viable option. King County Metro is limiting the number of people on a bus to 12-18 passengers and are running a reduced service schedule. This means that most people are not realistically able to use the bus system at this time. Moreover, riding the bus would increase the likelihood of catching COVID-19 and possibly spreading the virus more widely. This is dangerous for UW and our Seattle community.

Parking on campus is expensive (over $150/month) and many laboratory research staff cannot afford this extra cost, particularly now when households may be dealing with layoffs, furloughs, and job losses. Removing free parking access will force our most vulnerable populations to take on additional personal risk through use of  public transportation. This burden will undoubtedly fall disproportionately on marginalized and minoritized individuals. We must provide access to parking so that everyone who must work on campus can safely commute. We ask that you either reopen E lots or provide parking waivers, especially to those that would not be parking on campus if not for COVID-19.