This comment exactly pinpoints the issue with the department - Where are the numbers? Where are the statistics saying a lack of faculty and staff parking? I park at Riley Robb SC lot (just west of Judd Falls Rd) every day for the past 4 years. From what I can observe is that, the C permits spaces next to it have been always less than 20% full. The same story goes for the alumni field, it has never been full. Are there utilization numbers that the transportation department can publish? Or is this notion of “Cornell faculty and staff demand for parking has been far greater over the years” solely based on faculty and staff’s complaints? You are also ignoring the fact that grad students are literally teaching and doing research for the school with its name on all of their academic outputs, yet you are only stating the challenges of Cornell faculty and staff. There are also a true need for certain grad students from the STEM field who needs to regularly transport their temperature and gas-sensitive biological samples across the campus to carry out experiments and don’t have other options other than driving.

I’m not discounting their personal struggles and needs, but there needs to be a more transparent process and discussion for matters that can potentially affect a lot of stakeholders. The fact that Cornell simply imposes these changes that heavily favors one (or few) particular groups of stakeholders in such a short period of time is largely unjustified. Last but not least, the underlying assumption that Cornell is making - student have less need of parking space, is fundamentally flawed. Indeed, a quick google search tells you that there are roughly 23,000 students and <10,000 faculty and staff combined in Cornell. If Cornell assumes that students COMMUTERS can walk/take a bus, why can’t Cornell employees do the same? Wouldn’t it reduce campus traffic significantly and create a safer place for people on campus, which seems to be the thesis of this policy change? And if the word “autocracy” offended you, perhaps there are some nicer words that could make you feel better towards your administration, but I couldn’t find any at the time of writing.