Parking at Curtin University has become hugely problematic, according to students and staff.

The university has around 6500 parking bays on campus. According to Curtin University’s overview statistics from 2018-2022, more than 58,000 students were enrolled and almost 4000 staff members employed.

According to the university, the start of 2024 has seen the largest number of students on campus in five years.

That has led to an unprecedented rise in demand for parking.

Curtin student and Curtin Stadium staff member Tahlia Bonomini says: “If I don’t arrive on campus before eight in the morning for work or class, it can take a while to find parking.

“I park in the green bays, which are the cheaper ones, so I would say it’s relatively affordable. But if I am working a long shift then it adds up.”

Curtin is set to lose more parking bays with the announcement of a $200 million proposed new science building.

The building will require the removal of 416 parking bays, with the university stating it will provide 150 new bays elsewhere on campus.

The parking system at Curtin are structured into colours, each representing the zone students and staff park in. These zones vary in cost.

According to Curtin’s website, the university started issuing parking permits to staff and students at the start of this year.

Curtin’s School of Media, Society and Creative Arts business manager Andrew Mclean says he would like to see Curtin make changes to better accommodate staff.

He says their needs to be more bays available to staff who aren’t able to arrive early.

“Create a zone that can only be accessed after 9:30am to accommodate staff and students with family commitments that arrive here later and cannot find a bay,” he says.

To pay for parking on campus, students and staff use the ‘Cellopark’ app, which requires users to book and end parking, each day.

Cellopark customer service operator Jane Mifsud, says the app is “basically a platform used to collect the parking fees for Curtin University”.

According to Ms Mifsud, the university sets the rates and times for when to pay for parking.

Victoria Park councillor Daniel Minson, who is also a member of the development assessment panel that approved the new building, says Curtin is responsible for managing its parking.

“As a whole, the parking situation is with Curtin,” he says.

Mr Minson says the parking issues at Curtin may spill over to nearby areas.

“You can definitely expect a higher demand for parking everywhere else,” he says.

“There will be more orientation towards improving other transportation options for Curtin students to encourage other ways of transport, like the bus port.”

In a statement, Curtin University says it is doing its best to “balance the needs of accessibility and affordability for both students and staff”.

It says trends indicate demand for parking peaks at the start of semester.

Curtin says under the WA Planning Commission’s guidelines, it is only allowed to offer about 6,500 parking bays.