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  ALICE LAM Drivers line up on Westwood Boulevard for parking permits July 26. Parking attendants had students who wished to park in certain lots move elsewhere to accommodate Mercedes-Benz Cup crowds.

By Trucmai Nguyen

Daily Bruin Contributor

The Mercedes-Benz Cup tennis tournament attracted sellout crowds and brought 3,000 to 4,000 additional vehicles to campus each day, resulting in overwhelmed parking facilities.

“Finding parking was a nightmare. We had to wait five minutes just to make a right turn at the stop sign,” said Mike Lee, a student trying to run errands on campus last week.

The additional vehicles exacerbated the problem of UCLA’s 21,000 limited parking spaces, said Renee Fortier, associate director of Transportation Services.

“With the increase in summer session enrollment, coupled with the big name draws for the Mercedes Open, this summer is busier than previous Mercedes Open tournaments,” she said.

According to lead parking attendant Mary Carnes, most of the people who attended the tournament would first park in Lots 6, 8 and 9.

With thousands of additional vehicles competing for limited spaces, students attempting to find parking felt the impact.

“I got into a car accident … with someone who was trying to watch the Mercedes Benz Cup,” said Sang Lee, a third-year electrical engineering student, after a fender-bender he attributes to increased traffic in Lot 6.

Transportation Services sells approximately two million daily permits annually, translating into about $12 million in revenue. Numbers include sales for special events, courtesy parking and daily visitors, Fortier said.

Parking Services allowed permit-holders to continue parking in their assigned structures so long as space was available.

But parking was not always easy to find.

“It’s been really busy and a lot of permit holders who are used to parking where they normally park aren’t able to do so,” said parking attendant John Udowski.

According to Fortier and Carnes, Parking Services turned daily parking pass customers not attending the tournament away from Lots 6, 8 and 9 and redirected them to Lots 2, 3, 31 or 32.

Despite alternative locations, restricted parking remained frustrating for students.

“(Students) ... think that because they are students, they should be able to park,” Carnes said. “But ... UCLA is not just a university for students. There are so many special events and research and everything else that’s going on.”

Other events that may impact parking throughout the year are the Los Angeles Times’ Festival of Books in the spring, basketball games, performing arts events and commencement ceremonies.