Late to the Party 4: Parking permit policing

Recently, UAA Parking & Transportation increased the cost of parking permits for the 2025-2026 school year. This increase was met with quite a bit of backlash from students and faculty. 

In general, the comments I’ve overheard are that most students don’t really understand why the price increase was necessary — nor do they understand why we pay fees at all. 

Our very own Managing Editor Kaitlyn Gaub said, "I just won't eat for two weeks and I'll be able to afford it." While she said this sarcastically, it opened my eyes to what this price increase will mean for students.

Many can hardly afford gas just to get to class every day, and some might actually be in a position where they are forced to choose between buying food or paying for the permit just to avoid exorbitant parking fines.

Many other students and I understand why we would be required to have a parking permit to park on campus at buildings like the library, Rasmussen or Student Union. 

What baffles me is why I am required to have a permit just to park in front of my own Templewood or in the East Hall parking lot even though this is literally my place of residency. 

I am not even safe from the fines at my own home. So why the (expletive) am I paying rent? Since I began living on campus, rent has increased significantly, while housing scholarships have been gutted. 

This totals out to a 44% increase in rent alone since 2023. Combine that with the increased parking permit cost, and it feels more and more like we, as students, are being taken advantage of. 

Using my own experience as an example, I currently live on campus as a resident of the Templewood Townhomes. Occasionally, I have to park in the East Hall parking lot due to an arrangement with my roommates. 

When I park in the East Hall parking lot, I am given a ticket. I would absolutely be willing to pay a daily fee for nights that I find myself needing to park in the East Hall parking lot. 

The problem is I’m not given that option because there is no pay-to-park machine in that parking lot. Sure, I could download the app to my phone and pay via that, but what if I don't have space, or simply don't have a phone available? This is yet another financial barrier to accessing higher education.

So instead, I am forced to either buy a parking pass or pay the tickets. 

This is just one of the many ways UAA demands that each and every driving student pays for a parking pass, regardless of whether or not you drive to campus each day. 

They essentially require that every single student pays for their absurdly priced parking permit, even if you just want to leave your car near your residence and walk to class. 

I’ve done the math to see what is more cost-effective. If I am only attending class in person for six hours a week — because the university forces me to also attend certain classes online only — it would actually be cheaper to pay by the hour for the days I do attend in person. 

However, because I am eligible to get tickets in my own driveway, I am put in the position where I MUST buy a parking permit and am unable to use the cheapest alternative. 

I guess I will just solve this issue by only parking at my own apartment on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to avoid getting fined simply for hanging out at my own home. 

Don’t let my disposition toward parking passes give you the impression that I’m unwilling to pay for parking at campus buildings. I gladly pay at the pay-to-park machines when I can. 

Most of my classes are held in the Administration & Humanities Building, so I like to park in the parking garage behind the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building. 

Currently though, the machine there does not accept cards. So other students and I must pay cash. But these machines are not designed to return any change. Oh, you want to park for an hour? That will be $3. But you only have a $10 bill? 

Guess what, you just donated $7 to parking services. No chance at a refund, no added time to your scheduled time, just a higher bill for the same exact length of time. 

We won’t even get into the money aspect right now — considering how much they pay their employees and how much they waste their money on fees for a parking garage that never should have been built. 

If this issue persists though, I highly encourage any of our aspiring accountants here at UAA to attempt an audit of the parking services. 

So no, UAA, I will not be purchasing your ridiculous parking permit. For a number of reasons, but mostly, because someone shouldn’t merely call you out; they need to actually stand up to you. 

Since the semester began, the price of all parking permits has decreased by around $50. For some reason, this change was not broadcast to all students like the initial permit price increase was. 

Even though I could now buy a permit for a less exorbitant price, I personally will not be bullied into spending what is still an excessive amount of money on a parking pass I will hardly get anything in return for.

So come find me — and fine me — if you must. Until then, I will continue to pay fines as I receive them and dodge your overpaid workers when I see them.