Parking Spots, Rates, and Permits

Every year, I dread telling my parents I need a few hundred dollars to pay for a parking permit. This permit makes me park in a spot that is hard to get to and far away from my classes. The parking passes for the University of Alabama continuously increase in price every year. Will we ever find a price that remains constant from year to year? Why are these parking passes so expensive anyway? After all the money parents and students pay to the school, you would think a parking spot would be guaranteed, or at least affordable.
I interviewed many students who commute to and from campus. I found that the majority of them agree it is pertinent to be able to park on campus, especially considering the fact that after freshman year most students are encouraged to move off campus. Students and faculty, who commute and park on campus, pay at least one hundred and sixty five dollars per year. This price gives you the ability to park in one designated parking zone. While this method sounds logical and fair, the parking permit does not always guarantee that there will be a parking spot available in your restricted area. This issue causes great frustration to students who are trying to get to class on time, but cannot because there is no place for them to park their car. You would think that if the University was allowed to charge these outrageous prices, they could at least promise that you would always have a spot. When I first paid the parking fee last year, the thought that I might not get a spot everyday never crossed my mind.
Although this parking conflict may not affect the lives of all students, especially those who live on campus, the University still needs a plan for transportation. Unfortunately, the Crimson Bus system is as unreliable as the parking passes. Students who miss the bus by minutes may be stuck waiting too long for another bus to come, causing them to be late for class. For those students who actually catch the bus on time still run the risk of being late to class because of the many stops on each route. The numerous bus stops and traffic cause students to think that the only way they will get to class on time is to drive their own cars. Although driving your car seems like an easy alternative, it can result in not being able to find a spot in your designated zone; therefore, resulting in a ticket.
Parking tickets are issued to cars parked in areas where their passes do not permit. After talking to many people, the majority of them said that they bought the least expensive pass. This means that they are allowed to park in the least amount of spots. This leaves students scrambling for spots and even parking in places that will result in a fine. The fines range anywhere from fifty dollars to two hundred and fifty dollars. With the combination of the money from parking violations and the parking passes, you would think that the University would make a very large profit. We called the parking services office to ask how much the University made per year. We were shocked to hear that there is no profit made off of charging these insanely high prices. All the funds earned from anything traffic related on campus are used for projects such as paving campus roads and parking lots. Additionally, the money is used to pay the debt of Ten-Hoor Hall and Ferguson Center parking decks, which are on a thirty-year payment plan. Also, the soccer parking lot and South Ridgecrest intermodal deck have five-year payment plans. The University is bonded to these payment plans for 1,382,507 dollars per year. The campus also has additional road services that need funding, such as the campus wide signing project where they plan to replace all traffic signs on campus. They are also trying to increase parking lot security, which adds up to 1.3 million dollars. Now we know that without the expensive permits and parking fines our campus would actually be in debt. In essence, we are helping to expand our campus and help it become safer and more convenient for future commuters.