Students and faculty will see a 3 percent net increase in the price of parking permits according to the University Transportation Department. Though a couple of parking lots, SC and S, will not increase their prices, the rise in costs elsewhere will be anywhere from $4 to $15.
According to Greg Cain, assistant director for parking services, the main reason for the rise in costs is to “keep up with maintenance costs.”
“[The rising price of gas] is a portion of the increase,” Cain said.” “A lot of factors are included, including the cost of asphalt… the cost of goods is going up. We also get a small increase in a salary.”
“We keep a five-year budget; we [factor in] parking revenues, taking care of our facilities,” Cain said. “Three percent is a good increase each year — that amounts to about $1 a month.”
Though the rise in the cost of parking permits is reasonably low, according to Cain, Bobby Jones, a senior in business management, said he feels that students are already laden with enough financial burdens.
“I live at Wolf Village and it already costs a lot to live there,” Jones said. “But people have to buy [parking permits], and that’s what sucks about it. It’s like gas.”
Jones said parking permits already cost a lot with their current prices.
“And lot of the time I can’t park close to where I need to go…, but then you get a ticket for parking, it costs $30 to $40,” he said.
Cain said because of a court case that decided that the money from parking tickets will go toward the public schools in the county, the Transportation only gets revenue through selling parking permits.
The case also may take the revenues from 1995 to present from parking tickets, possibly leaving Transportation around $6 million in the hole.
Christine Klein, information and communications specialist for Transportation, said that case applies to all 16 UNC system schools, not just N.C. State.
Josh Beck a senior in mechanical engineering, said he had a parking permit last year, but decided to not purchase one this year because of the cost.
“I would rather die than pay that much for a parking permit,” Beck said. “As strapped as I am for money, as a college student, It’s a fact that parking permits are necessary … for most off-campus students.”
Beck said he currently rides the bus that Campus Crossings, formerly University House, provides, and “this is why I live near campus.”
Although some may seem unhappy about the rise in costs, Cain said that no one has complained about the increase yet.
“No [one has complained], I talk to a committee and staff and we try to keep a very low increase to keep up with costs,” Cain said.
Cain also added that last year, the cost of parking permits increased by a little more than 3 percent, and has had a steady and consistent increase in the past couple of years.
“If we look at peer universities, a study found that our prices are in the mid to lower range on rates,” Cain said. “What we have that most don’t is quite a bit of parking space, though sometimes it doesn’t seem like it.”