State company Parken BW erects first parking lot barriers on campus

Surprise announcement for the current weekend: Construction vehicles are due to roll on 20 July 2020 / University finds overall concept lacking and so far has been pressing in vain for clarification of open questions.

Since Friday, 17 July 2020, it has been clear The state-owned company "Parken BW GmbH" (PBW) will erect the first two barriers at parking spaces on the campus of the University of Hohenheim from Monday, 20 July 2020.

This is the first construction measure to collect parking fees on the campus from autumn 2020. The measure had already been decided by the state government in March 2018. At that time, the winter semester 2020/21 was announced as the starting date.

As far as fees are concerned, Parken BW had confirmed that it would implement two demands that the Senate of the University of Hohenheim had unanimously agreed to. PBW managing director Gebhard Hruby assured:

• For the parking spaces that the PBW manages on campus, there will only be day parking permits, so that all members of the university are on an equal footing and no one is favored by permanent parking permits.
• The parking fee will be € 2/day for University members.

The University management was now surprised by the start of construction, which had not been coordinated with them and was announced at too short notice. Many university members will foreseeably find it surprising.

This is all the more so as the University management has repeatedly called on PBW to answer the outstanding questions by means of a written overall concept and to regulate implementation contractually. In addition, the University had asked PBW to allow sufficient time before all measures were taken to inform University staff early and comprehensively.

In view of the fact that the PBW did not comply with these requests, the University management would like to inform the members of the University of its state of knowledge - even if, due to the circumstances described, this must be done without the desirable time lead.

Further information about how parking fees were introduced, how the University of Hohenheim got involved, and what the University mobility concept for the campus looks like can be found on the page "Mobility: Parking, public transport and more".

The PBW refers to the decision of the state government to introduce parking fees in stages at all universities.

• In August 2019, PBW presented a concept which, from the University's point of view, left some questions unanswered. The concept work could also not be completed in the subsequent period up to and including May 2020.
• On 25 June 2020, the Chancellor asked for another meeting. The earliest possible date agreed was 4 August 2020.
• On 7 July 2020, the University received an email announcing that the first barriers were to be erected on 20 July 2020. The University of Hohenheim stated that it could not agree to this because of open questions and lack of contracts.
• On 16 July 2020 the PBW gave the University an ultimatum: If the University did not agree to the start of construction on 20 July, Parken BW would not implement the Senate proposal. As a result, the university gave up its resistance to the implementation of the first measures with the start of construction on 20 July. At the same time, it re-emphasized that before further measures could be taken, the open questions would have to be clarified.
• On 17 July 2020, PBW received the building permit from Vermögen und Bau Baden-Württemberg. This body is attached to the Ministry of Finance and is responsible for the state's real estate.

Whether the Plieningen-Birkach district advisory board is being kept up to date on developments by PBW is beyond the University's knowledge.

According to the current state of knowledge of the University, the first of the announced barriers will be erected at the entrance to the site where, among other things, the research greenhouse "Phytotechnikum" is located and where the University of Hohenheim and the State Horticultural School cultivate experimental plots (Hohenheim West). The entrance itself is on the Filder Hauptstraße.

The other car park barrier planned for the start of construction is on Otto-Sander-Straße. In order to store material and equipment, the construction company is to use half of the University parking lot on Otto-Sander-Straße (north of the agricultural engineering plant). The parking spaces on Otto-Sander-Straße which are not occupied by material and equipment remain usable.

• The construction work should take 4 weeks.

• In a next step, which has not yet been scheduled, PBW plans to erect the barrier systems in front of the parking lot on Garbenstraße.

The main points that remain unclear to this day are:

• When will parking fees be due?
• How will they be paid (e.g. RFID card with additional costs or free app)?
• What are the areas/regulations for craftsmen and delivery services?
• What parking facilities are available for motorcycles and scooters?
• How will the University’s green spaces be protected from illegal parkers? What are the towing regulations?

In addition, the University of Hohenheim expects clear legal regulations. The parking areas are owned by the state. The state handed over the land to the University of Hohenheim for use. If PBW now has the land at its disposal, this must also be clarified in a legally sound manner, because this means that responsibility for cleaning and traffic safety is also transferred to PBW.

On the whole, the University management is not opposed to parking space management. This is also part of the mobility concept of the University of Hohenheim.

As the University of Hohenheim has also emphasized publicly, it is very important that

• parking management leads to an improvement of the parking situation, to a reduction of traffic searching for a parking space, and to an increased quality of stay on the campus
• in parallel, local public transport and cycling and walking as an alternative to private cars should be promoted
• parking management does not lead to a preference for individual groups on the campus
• the neighboring districts of Plieningen and Birkach are continuously informed and the parking management is coordinated with the interests of the residents in the best possible way

PBW assured that it would implement a concept for parking fees that the Senate of the University of Hohenheim had unanimously adopted on 6 February 2019 with 3 abstentions. By virtue of this commitment:

• For the parking spaces that the PBW manages on campus, there will only be day parking permits, so that all members of the university are on an equal footing and no one is favored by permanent parking permits.
• The parking fee will be € 2/day.

PBW Managing Director Hruby also confirmed this commitment to the media and the University public via the Online Courier.

Further information about how parking fees were introduced, how the University of Hohenheim got involved, and what the University mobility concept for the campus looks like can be found on the page "Mobility: Parking, public transport and more".