USC’s Departments of Transportation and Public Safety are offering joint free parking and shuttle programs that may give some peace of mind to students traveling home for the holidays.
Beginning Monday, Operation G.I.F.T. (Group Initiative For Theft-prevention) will provide free parking over breaks at the Grand Avenue Parking Structure (UPX) at University Park Campus (UPC) and the Health Sciences Campus’ (HSC) Valley Parking Lot.
Students, faculty and staff can participate in the free parking program for Thanksgiving and winter breaks by filling out the registration form linked on the Department of Public Safety’s website. The form requires participants to fill out basic personal information, as well as information about their vehicle. Students, faculty, and staff who wish to request parking before the program’s official start date, or extend their parking beyond the program’s scheduled end date, can visit USC Transportation’s office in-person to request an extension.
DPS and USC Transportation began the parking initiative in 2005 as a “crime prevention measure” to get student, faculty and staff members’ vehicles off streets around campus and into monitored parking structures, according to DPS Crime Analyst Wyman A. Thomas.
“Back then, in 2004, we used to see a high number of car break-ins or car thefts reported either after the breaks or during the breaks…so this was birthed out of trying to lower the numbers so that we would not have any victims,” Thomas said.
This year’s program will run through Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, the first day of spring classes. In addition to free parking spots, Operation G.I.F.T. guarantees participants 24-hour patrolling by DPS officers, Thomas said.
“During that time, we place a heavy emphasis on patrol presence in that particular parking structure, because that’s where all of our participants are,” said Thomas.
While Operation G.I.F.T. initially began with 200 to 300 vehicles, Thomas said DPS now monitors just under 1,000 vehicles at UPC during breaks. The program expanded to provide free parking at HSC around 2007.
With the free parking initiative in place, Thomas said DPS has seen an overall “decrease in vehicle crimes” over Thanksgiving and winter Breaks, as DPS has not experienced vehicle thefts and burglaries in designated G.I.F.T. parking structures since launching the program.
He explained, however, that the department has seen spikes in the frequency of these crimes among non-participants who leave their cars unattended on public streets.
“Not all [reports] are USC faculty and staff, but they are within the patrol area, so they do come to DPS to make a report,” Thomas said.
According to Thomas, around the same time that DPS and the Department of Transportation extended their free parking initiative to HSC, the departments introduced their free shuttle program to Los Angeles International Airport for students, faculty and staff flying out of LAX over Thanksgiving and Winter breaks.
This year, buses will depart from the Widney Alumni House on Nov. 21-22 and Dec. 12-15 at ten set departure times between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Seats on the shuttles are limited, and those wishing to use the free service to LAX must register by November 17 for Thanksgiving break rides, and Dec. 8 for winter break rides. The link to register can be found here.
G.I.F.T. parking is only available at the UPC Grand Ave Parking Structure and HSC Valley Parking Lot, and there is a one-vehicle limit per participant. To read the rest of the rules and conditions of the parking program, click here.