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I just read about a campus building a multilevel parking lot for students who live in their cars. They could build a residence hall, but why normalize structural living, when there is no way they could afford it with their student loans. Just preparing them for reality.
Of course, the average new car price is over $50K, so cars aren’t going to be a viable living option for many, either. Perhaps they should set up a campground area on campus, for students who can only afford a tent?
At UMD, you have to buy a parking pass, but during basketball and football games you can’t use them and you can’t park there, because they’re selling our spaces for more money to sports attendees. Insane.
I recommend “the high cost of free parking” by Donald Shoup.
My uni charged a parking fee to every student.
You still couldn’t park unless you also bought a parking pass.
My first one, which was downtown, did the exact same thing, but didn’t even have enough parking for the people with passes, so everyone parked juuuuuuuuuust off campus and didn’t pay. All the houses within a 3 block radius were owned by either faculty or people who rented them to students, so they didn’t care at all. The only students who really used the lots were either living on campus and had to pay to store the vehicle anyway, or disabled people who didn’t have to pay.
The second one I transferred to, however, was amazing. Every building could be accessed via tunnels, and was set up like a wheel with spokes so each building connected to the center as well as its neighboring buildings, iirc. You could navigate the entire campus without going outside (Midwest winters). Every building also had a huge parking lot nearby, which was free because the campus was not close to anything but residential housing; campus was completely surrounded by conservation study acreage, as ecological sciences were very important there. Busses came mostly as scheduled. It was a dream of a place to go to school, honestly.
I WORKED at a university and had to pay for parking!
My Uni secretly wouldn’t give tickets during finals week because they didn’t want to drive students over the edge.
Mine withheld transcripts and diplomas if their were open tickets and absolutely would have given tickets out during finals.
Mine had issues with tires getting slashed, and items stolen in lots that were patrolled by campus police, who couldn’t catch the criminal. When the city police got involved, they found out it was the campus police.
My university was kind enough to offer a free lot on the far side of campus. They even had the bus go there.
They would also regularly send parking enforcement to find cars “hiding” in the lot off main campus that had delinquent fines. They would then boot the students car removing their access to transportation.
Pretty cruel since this was deep in the south and there was no functioning transit off-campus
Mine didn’t charge tuition fees
I helped my buddy with a project during our freshman year and as my payment, he sent me a photo of his parking pass and its dimensions.
Better believe I used that fake pass alllllll year. Never got caught 'neither.
I did have a buddy get caught, though, and it was quite the fine.
The way a lot of students solve this in Australia, at least in Melbourne where I’m from, is by taking the train (or a tram) to university. The university I went to was adjacent to a train station.
Students from low-income families and that are independent get money from the government which can be used for anything, including public transport passes. Living on campus isn’t really a thing in Australia, so a lot of students continue to live with their parents while at uni to save money, or live at an apartment nearby.
I checked the journey to the university near me. It’s currently 2pm on a Thursday, using live travel data
- car: 14 mins
- bike: 48 mins (route illegal, as you’d have to bike on the shoulder of a 4 lane freeway)
- public transport: 1h40m, 3 changes, each with a 7 min walk between them
- on foot: 2h46 mins
Public transport to my last school was something like 4 hours, 3 changes, with a 25 minute walk between one of them. I couldn’t have left early enough to made my first class. It was a 30 minute drive. Parking was free though.
I am once again recommending everyone read Donald Shoup’s The High Cost of Free Parking.
Counterpoint: Fuck cars.
agree but unfortunately for a lot of students in the USA the only form of transit to their university is by car
I teach at a local university and it provides some free parking in addition to paid parking. Of course, the paid spaces are closer to the buildings, but at least there’s some free spaces, too.
Should be more. Parking spots for non-disabled people shouldn’t be subsidized by those who don’t bring such ridiculous things on campus.
A lot of campus locations lack good public transit or local retail access for necessities.
When you don’t support any kind of parking you also make it difficult for people who have full time jobs or are continuing education as adults. Single parents also go to school, I know, I was in college as a child(obviously not enrolled.)
so that’s the problem, that’s what needs to be fixed. Not more parking.
From a European perspective that sounds like madness. 🙃
Isn’t that basically the US’s slogan at this point?
Schools with good public transit are a real blessing. I remember living off campus at UT Austin and missing more than a few classes due to the miserable bus schedule. A big chunk of that was the result of the bumper to bumper traffic through central Austin. But it’s a problem the city/state knew existed for decades and refused to address.
Commuter schools are even worse. They straight up don’t provide student housing, then get mad when you need student parking.
I just parked on the streets by campus and ate the parking tickets. I think I only got four tickets over the five years of college, and each one was $28 I think.
Another vote for “it is reasonable for universities to charge for parking.” Land on university campuses is extremely valuable. There is no reason it should be used for the least value-producing activity - car storage.
