By Nicole Kobie
So you’ve decided to shun the U-Pass and drive to school. While you’re in class, you’re going to need to leave your car somewhere–most professors aren’t too happy when you bring them into lectures with you.
It would be nice if you could get a parking pass, but as frosh are neither staff nor grad students, they go straight to the bottom of all parking permit waiting lists. As the wait time for a permit averages about three to four years, there’s a good chance you’ll graduate before getting one.
There are some permits lowly undergrads can get; you can park at McMahon Stadium for only $51.36/semester and a couple of blocks of walking a day, or you can try to get an unused spot in a Rez lot for varying prices. There’s currently a lottery system for the few Art Parkade passes, which cost $267.50/semester. (You can also park there for $4/entry.)
Paylots are one alternative (prices and locations listed below) but if you arrive between 9 and 11 a.m., you’ll be lining up for a spot, and that’s a really dumb reason to miss a class. Desperation might lead you to park at a meter, but it’s pricey.
There’s also limited residential parking. Travel a few blocks south of campus for free two-hour spots. If you’re parking on an evening or weekend, you can stay there as long as you like. Closer residential streets and alleys all require permits. Another option is to park at Brentwood Station, and either take the train or walk the rest of the way.
There are some other free, somewhat legal spots around campus, but you’ll have to discover those yourself.
Also, keep in mind that most parking tickets are only twenty dollars and drop to ten if paid within a week. What you do with this information is up to you.
The following are spots where you can pay for the privelege to park on a daily basis. For locations of these lots, check out a campus map, or visit the actually rather swank, and much more detailed, Parking Services site.
Pay Lots
Many pay lots fill up fast, so get to campus early-or late. Several "permit only" lots open for pay entry after 3:30 p.m. and on weekends. You can buy books of tickets that offer a slight discount, or if you carpool, pay only $1.00/entry to Lots 10, 11 or 32. Green is good… and cheap. Some lots have limited numbers of plugins.
Lot 10–1205 spaces, $2.00/entry
Lot 11–614 spaces, $2.75/entry
Lot 22–149 spaces, $1.00/half hour, $5.50 max/day, deposit on entry
Lot 32–788 meters, $2.75/entry
Lot 59–34 spaces, $2.00/entry, buy ticket from dispenser
Total all day spaces: 2,790
Evenings/Weekends only
Lot 3–179 spaces
Lot 12– 618 spaces
Lot 13–150 spaces
Lot 20–135 spaces
Lot 21–256 spaces
Lot 25–63 spaces
Lot 31–132 meters
Lot 33–135 spaces
Lot 34–219 spaces
Total evening/weekend spaces: 1887
Total paylot Spaces: 4,677
Parkades
Expensive, full of Civics, and with constant line-ups, parkades are the way to go if you’ve got both time and money. If you stay past 11:30 pm, the Art Parkade is free. msc requires a deposit.
Art Parkade–1269 spaces, $267.50/semester, $1.00/half-hour, $4.00 maximum/day
MacEwan Student Centre–141 spaces, $1.50/half hour, $6.50 maximum/day
Total parkade spaces: 1410
Meters
If you’re late for class, or only staying for few minutes, meters are the way to go. Free after 8:30 p.m., they’re perfect for late-night parking. All meters cost $0.25/8 minutes, so you’ll need $3.75 for a 2-hour stay.
90-minute time limits
Lot 21A–12 meters
Lot 27–3 meters
Lot 29–5 meters
2-hour time limits
Collegiate Blvd. meters–5 meters
University Gate meters–5 meters
Lot 1–140 meters
Lot 3a–16 meter
Lot 4–10 meters
Lot 5/5a–28 meters
Lot 6–4 meters
Lot 7–8 meters
Lot 16–46 meters
Lot 17–8 meters
Lot 23–4 meters
Lot 26–16 meters
Lot 28–8 meters
Lot 30–9 meters
Lot 48–7 meters
Lot 49–10 meters
Lot 50–8 meters
Lot 53–4 meters
Lot 61–2 meters
Lot 62–9 meters
4-hour time limits
Lot 9–61 meters
Lot 19–13 meters
Total meters: 441
Fun with Math
If every space in every day-lot and both parkades were filled just once a day, Parking Services would take in $13,105–including evenings and weekend lots, $18,266.75. If all the meters were constantly full from 9 am to 8:30 p.m., Parking Services could pull in about $9,509.25 in one day.