Photo by: Rachael Roark

Visitor and temporary parking prices increased from $1 per hour to $1.25 per hour in all visitor lots and from $6 to $7 for a daily scratch-off permit.

The increase was to help maintain parking facilities, said Buddy Knox, manager of parking services.

“This is something we evaluate every year,” said Knox.

Parking on campus is self-sustaining, according to the Parking and Transportation Policies and Procedures. All funds collected through permit sales, visitor fees and citation fines pay for the cost of operation, maintenance and development of the university’s parking facilities.

Though most parking permits tend to fluctuate from year to year, the visitor and temporary parking prices have not changed in nearly five years, according to Knox.

Since parking is entirely funded by fines, fees and permits, parking services does not get any of students’ tuition or fees and must pay for itself, said Knox.

“It costs every year to plow snow, repaint stripes, replace signs, service the gate arms, patch potholes, re-seal concrete and/or asphalt, etc,” he said. “So if you purchase a permit for a restricted lot then you could say you are paying for the maintenance of that lot. Nearly every year we have to raise the price of a permit by a percent or two just to cover the cost of inflation on maintenance.”

Student and staff reaction to the increase has been fairly quiet.

“I don’t think it’s that great of an increase, I wasn’t really that bothered by it,” said commuter student Elya Kinsey, who uses the visitor and temporary parking frequently.

The increase is all part of maintaining the university, said Kinsey.

“I can use my credit card if I have to, it’s a fairly accessible system,” she said.

Knox has been pleased with the lack of negative feedback he has received, he said.

“Compared to the rates downtown we are still pretty cheap,” Knox said. “Plus, we offer credit card payment at every machine now and having the extra 25 cents is mostly a non-issue.”

For information regarding the new permit changes please go to www.parking.du.edu.