MORGANTOWN , W.Va.A parking permit increase will go into effect on September 1 at West Virginia University .

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The rate changes will allow the University to continue improvements to the parking infrastructure and provide additional alternative transportation programming for the campus.

Over the past year, the University committed over $250,000 in improvements to parking lots,said Hugh Kierig, director of WVU Transportation and Parking .Next year, we must do more to preserve the parking lots we have and then begin a long-term maintenance program so that our repairs are more for prevention than reconstruction.

For most surface parking spaces, the increase will be about $2.50 more per pay period. Preferred parking permits will go up $3.50 per pay period and Waterfront and the new Mountaineer Station garages will be increased by $4.50 per pay period. People, who have have premium parking in the Mountainlair Garage, will see an increase per pay period of $6. There will also be increases in gravel as well as student parking permits.

For employees who are interested in downtown parking options, WVU Transportation and Parking has negotiated a preferred monthly parking rate with the Morgantown Parking Authority for the Wharf Street Parking Garage. The rate offered to University employees is $35 per month.For more information on how to sign-up for the Wharf Street Parking Garage, contact the parking authority at (304) 284-7435.

Parking permit payments for employees that use payroll deduction will also undergo some changes in September. Instead of taking the permit payments out of the employees last paycheck of the month, payroll deduction for parking will be split in half with equal amounts deducted from both paychecks. This change is designed to prevent fluctuation in paycheck amounts caused by the previous monthly deduction.

Last year, Transportation and Parking initiated new programs to encourage alternatives to the single-occupancy automobile. The program called WE Go! provides employees free PRT and Mountain Line bus service as well as promoting biking and walking to and around campus.

For the 2009-10 academic year, WVU will be instituting our WE Car program for short-term car rental, providing online carpool matching, and our occasional parking program, which provides employees who give up their parking permit with 18 free one-day parking passes per year,Kierig said.Additionally, people that sign-up for carpool or vanpool programs will be given discounts on their parking permits, preferred parking spaces, and a guaranteed ride home in the case of an emergency.”

These transportation programming improvements and permit increases are part of many recommendations included in WVU s Transportation and Parking Plan that was adopted in October 2007. The plan, which was a University-wide initiative to increase efficiencies in parking and promote alternative transportation, recommended actions to reduce demand for campus parking, encourage use of alternative transportation, and increase mobility options for everyone that comes to and moves around the WVU campus.

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For more information on all of the WE GO ! programs and parking permit increases, visit http://transportation.wvu.edu or call the parking office at 304-293-5502.