Does your campus charge for parking?

[bookgirl]

I am a university student, and the campus I attend has the following price structure for parking permits:

Faculty & Staff Parking Permit Fees (2009-2010)

* Full Year (12 month) -> $200.00
* 2 Terms -> $136.00
* 1 Term -> $95.00
* 1 Term (Part Time Faculty / Staff) -> $65.00
* 1 Month -> $27.00

Student Parking Permit Fees

* Full Year (12 Month) ->$130.00
* 2 Terms -> $79.00
* 1 Term -> $57.00
* 1 Month -> $27.00

The bolded part refers to my situation. Is it normal to charge such fees for parking? My campus is not in a major city by any means, there is PLENTY of room for expansion, and space is not a problem (i.e. the university has quite a bit of land to use). I'm ticked off because there have recently been many "improvements" to campus and I think that they're fishing around, trying to make up the extra funds. Of course, parking fees go up every year, with no improvement in the parking facilities themselves...

That's cheap, I work next to a small town University. They are out of room on one side of campus so we are constantly having to call the police to ticket the students who don't pay for parking or can't find a space in that one area and are too lazy to park in the lots that are more than 200 yards from thier building, so they park in our lot. Parking here is more than that, but each ticket they get is $50 bucks. It stinks but parking fees are normal. Check out your public transportation. There are usually stops on campus.

 

[pixiegoose]

I had to pay for a parking permit when I was in college. I don't recall the exact amount but I think it's similar to what they're charging now- $70 per semester and $19 for January term, so $159 a year. And then of course, there's 6 different types of permits that dictate not only where you park but when you're allowed to drive your car. I had a "storage" permit because I was over 200 miles from home (yeah, I was more like over 1000 miles from home but I digress) and I was only "allowed" to drive my car Friday 5 pm- Sunday 11pm- if I was caught driving during any other time, I could be ticketed and lose my on-campus parking privileges. Yeah, the parking situation was one of the few things I hated about my college.


Edited to add: I also had to pay for parking in high school but I really don't remember how much it was.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Every student that drove to my public HIGH SCHOOL had to pay $250 a year for their parking space and there was always a waiting list (we had hundreds of parking spaces but 1,500 kids went to my high school). And when I worked in downtown Cincinnati I paid $150 a month for a monthly parking pass to park in a garage 3 blocks down from where I worked. I made $10 an hour .

 

[DisneyMim]

My son is in college in Boston and we pay over $350 per semester for him to park on campus. Parking is a nightmare in Boston and we've always been used to paying, so for us it's a bargain. I guess it all depends on where you live and what you're used to.

 

[Darcy03231]

I graduated from college in 1984 and we had parking fees then.

Right now DD is a senior in high school. Her parking fee for the year is $100.

 

[chisnpeke]

I go to the University of Cincinnati and parking is extremely expensive.

PARKING RATES
Rates
Facility
Faculty/Staff
Student
CCM Garage, Varsity Village Garage, and McMicken Decal
$100.00month
$300.00/quarter
Clifton Court Garage, Goodman Garage, Calhoun Garage, Zone "A" Designated spaces, Kingsgate Garage, and CAS designated area holders:
$87.00/month
$261.00/quarter
Woodside Drive Garage, Campus Green
Garage, Eden Avenue Garage (levels 1-7)
$75.00/month
$225.00/quarter
University Garage & Corry Garage
$50.00/month
$150.00/quarter
Corry North Lot (4), Sander Lot (3) Lot 13, Lot 16, Lot 22, and Sander Ramp
$41.00/month
N/A
Eden Garage Level 8, CAS (B/3 Zone)
$41.00/month
$123.00/quarter
Reading Road Lot and Winslow Lot
$21.00/month
N/A
Lot 16
$5.00 Flat Rate
$5.00 Flat Rate
*Handicapped (Student) Rate
N/A
$150.00/quarter

 

[DisneyLover83]

My school in Charlotte (UNCC) charges $325 for a parking pass which is good from 8/09 to 8/10.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

DS is at University of Maryland and pay $415 for one year of parking. His housing is considered on campus.

When DD was a senior at the same school and living in off campus housing, she paid ~$270. But, when she would get there she couldn't always find a space.

 

[Stephanie218]

Our parking passes at Arizona State ranged from about $300 - $800 per year. I graduated 2 years ago, so they've probably gone up more since then.

 

[Sparx]

my high school charged like 60.00 to park, and we had assigned spots.
my college (middle tennessee state university) does not. but if i could pay for a guaranteed spot, i would in a heart beat. parking at my campus is a night mare.

 

[monkey68]

When I was in college, we didn't have to pay to park, but it was a nightmare. It was a large commuter school shifting towards a school with lots of dorming students. Everyone was allowed to bring a car. Parking was a nightmare, people would park where there wasn't an actual spot, causing many accidents because then other people didn't have space to pull out. My sophmore year, they came up with a new system that if you were a resident, you could park on one side of the campus, commuters could park on the side where the classes were held. But good luck finding a spot on that side of campus after 7 am.

 

[tar heel]

Like disneylover83, I pay $325 for my son to park at UNC Charlotte.

I believe I paid $60 when I was in college -- more than 30 years ago.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Yes. My husband works at a university and he pays over $350 a year for the chance of finding a parking spot within five blocks or so from his office.

 

[perla75]

I have married couple friends who are both professors at a university. They have to PAY $1000/year to park on campus to go to work!

 

[Rora]

I went to the University of Florida and I believe parking for a year was $150.. and you weren't even guaranteed a space. That being said, I paid for parking and always had a spot.. having my car there was really important to me.

 

[mtemm]

yep. its been 20 years but mine did, and it was not a big city (University of New Hampshire). there were different levels of parking...the closer lots charged more. there was a lot a little further away that had a different pass that was cheaper.

 

[golfgal]

We had a parking fee way back when I was in college. I don't remember what it was. We pay $180/year for DS17's parking pass for high school.

 

[Pigeon]

I work at a state university, and our parking fees are similar. It's one more way to nickel and dime students and faculty to death. There is also plenty of room on our campus for additional lots, but they like to make parking a giant PIA.

Tuition increases have to be approved by the legislature here. Fee increases do not. As bad as the parking fees are, they can't hold a candle to the "technology fee," which as far as I can tell, provides the students with nothing in particular that shouldn't be covered by tuition.

To be fair to the institution, the state has been cutting funding pretty steadily. Money has got to come from somewhere.

 

[MineMail]

My college had NO parking at all, other than meters on the street and a municipal lot several blocks away. Same with High School. The meter maids were heartless, too. I became a meter crusader after my third "expired meter" ticket - I'd stuff a quarter in any meter that was about to expire, even if it wasn't my car!

I've worked for several colleges in the past 25 years. One didn't have parking permits and it was nightmare trying to find a spot. People who didn't even go to the college would park for the day and catch a commuter bus for their office. The college started requiring permits the next year.

While it seems there is "plenty of parking," it's never enough for the peak periods. During the day, there are usually spots unless there's some special event or conference. At night, the commuter students are cut-throat trying to find a place to park and get to class on time.

I digress. Our parking fees are:

Resident Students $275/term; Commuter Students $80/term

Faculty and Staff fees are on a sliding scale, it's about 1% - 2% of our gross salary, ranging from $300-1200. The students pay less than a quarter of what we pay, even the on-campus resident students.

OK, I have you all beat.
I am a physician at a university medical center.
No "doctors parking" for us, though.
In fact, I have to pay $82/month, or $984 per year for my parking.

And I don't even get to use it if there is a football game or a basketball game - no, I have to clear out from the parking I ALREADY PAID FOR so that the parking nazis here can SELL IT AGAIN to the football fans!!

Now, does that stink or what????

I'm not a doctor, and I work off-campus (thankfully), but my parking pass would be over a grand per year. I'm perfectly happy asking for a weekly pass when I need to be on campus occasionally instead of buying a hangtag.

Our "security staff" are on the City police force, so parking tickets and "no hang tag" violations go through the City. I liked the "rentacop" system at other colleges better - the department head could waive the ticket. "Our cops" are always nice and professional. In an emergency, they're awesome.

 

[Ephany]

$360 this year. It seems excessive, but there's no free parking anywhere on campus and the city bus doesn't come within miles of this house. On the other hand it's $10 per day to use the parking garage, so really I'll break even on the pass within the first two months and it's good from August - May. My assigned lot is less than a minute walk from my building, and I've yet to see the lot completely full so I'm very happy with my situation right now.

My undergrad university didn't charge for parking at all and it was a nightmare. Parking lots were full by 8:30, and people parked everywhere they could fit, even if it was unsafe. Since I'm responsible for dropping DD off and picking her up from school, the $360 is a small price to pay for peace of mind.