The price of parking on campus has gone up again this year. The cheapest place to park is Lot 10 and it has gone up 50 cents from last year, now costing students $2.75 to park for the day–without re-entry. Prices at all pay lots and meters have increased and annual permits have almost doubled in price in the last three years. This increase has left many students scratching their heads asking how the prices are decided.
“The prices are determined by market analysis of Foothills, University of Alberta and SAIT,” said Susan Austin, of Parking Services at the University of Calgary. “We try to keep the prices comparative or less than those other markets.”
The university felt that parking on campus was under-priced compared to these other markets. Pete Fraser, Director of Ancillary Services, explained that the raising prices were necessary to generate increased revenue. Parking is viewed by students as a necessity and it was felt that this increase over time would not affect demand for the service.
“The parking program brings in approximately $7.2 million total revenue,” said Fraser. “Of that, the university gets $2.5 million which is transferred to general accounts. [This] money goes into the high priority programs. It is all part of the big puzzle.”
Over the last three budget years the increase in the price for parking has brought in an extra $1.5 million for the university. This is significant since $2.5 million the university receives would be equivalent to a three per cent raise in tuition for all students.
“It was a ‘lesser of two evils’ choice,” said Fraser.
Fraser explained if Parking Services had not increased its prices, we may have seen another increase in tuition. With the increase, the university only gets money from students willing to pay to park on campus. Those who opt out of this can take advantage of their U-Pass by riding public transportation to and from school.
If you still choose to drive to school, don’t start saving your pennies for next year too soon. Students may see an end to these constant augmentations shortly.
“The price of parking has hit its whole market value,” commented Fraser. “I don’t personally see it going up.”