Parking pass signs in the student union parking lot. Photo by Taylor Heckart
Students returning to the residential campus this semester may have experienced an unexpected change when buying a parking permit – they had to buy the full-price, normal parking pass for $157.50 a semester instead of the $75 residential pass.
Residential passes used to let students park anywhere on campus, including in the residential parking lots. Residential passes had their own specific images differentiating them from other passes, meaning cars in the residential parking lots without a residential parking pass would receive citations.
Now, normal parking permits work at residential lots, and there is no longer a residential parking pass. Parking Services says it’s because the reduced-price pass was never meant to be permanent, and they can no longer afford to cover the cost.
Resident Assistant Willow Kristeller said that many of her residents have already asked about the change.
Kristeller said that RAs weren’t told about the new fee increase until their training at the beginning of the semester, nor were they given an explanation for the change.
Kristeller said she wishes that Parking Services had warned residential students about the change ahead of time.
“If they had told us at the beginning of the summer or the end of the spring semester, like, ‘this change will enact this year,’ we could have had time to make more money throughout the summer or work more hours, whatever we needed to do to make that money to cover that permit.”
In an interview with The Northern Light, Parking Services Associate Director Falon Harkins said that when it comes to communication with students about pass changes, Parking Services can try to be better. He said that Parking Services’ communication is limited, though, as they don’t have the ability to send mass emails to students.
Harkins said that in order to understand the pass changes, it’s important to understand how Parking Services works.
Harkins said that Parking Services receives no general funds from the university. Most of the money that goes to Parking Services comes from student fees paid to UAA, citations and parking passes. He said the majority of their money comes from parking passes – most of which are bought by students.
The money that students pay to parking services goes toward many services, including snow removal, free jumpstarts, free bus transit, vehicle unlocks, and trail maintenance. The money also goes toward paying off the East Parking garage behind the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science building.
Harkins said that prior to 2016, residential students had to buy a normal parking pass and a special residential pass.
Harkins said that after conducting a review, Parking Services found that the process was too complex. Students would frequently get confused, and Parking Services had to write a lot of citations.
The decision was eventually made to combine those two permits into one parking pass. Harkins said that Parking Services decided to offer the residential pass at a discounted rate.
Harkins said that the discounted rate was only meant to be for a short period of time. Harkins said that the discount could only last for as long as Parking Services could “absorb the revenue.”
Harkins said, “It's super important, I think, for people to understand and for me to convey that I don't have the ability to give one thing away for free. I can only shift cost from one group of students or to another group of students.”
In a follow up email with The Northern Light, Harkins wrote that Parking Services is currently selling fewer passes, but lots still remain the same size. “We are reducing costs in many areas to avoid raising permit prices as long as possible and as much as possible,” wrote Harkins.
Harkins also said that implementing the combined residential parking passes was a complicated process.
“I know it doesn't appear to be [a heavy lift], but we have to constantly update a list about who's living in housing, who's not,” said Harkins.
When people signed up for housing early then dropped, or decided to live on campus after buying a permit, the process became intensive, he said.
Additionally, Harkins said that students continued to receive citations when visiting friends on campus, signaling to Parking Services that the permit process needed to change.
For now, all students will be using the same pass, regardless of whether or not they live on campus.
But if enrollment rises, said Harkins, then UAA may have to come up with a solution to protect parking space for residents.
In his email, Harkins clarified that if parking space for residents needs to be protected, that does not necessarily mean they’ll return to the old system.
“Technology might allow us to implement a different system than before. However certainly parking pressure in housing lots is a concern and we keep a close eye on it. If it gets to a point that we fear residents could be displaced we would implement a way of tracking resident vehicles and making sure we reduce that parking pressure,” wrote Harkins.
Harkins says that if students have questions, they can directly contact Parking Services for answers.
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