Vice President of Financial Affairs Matt Fajack announced earlier this month that the rates for parking permits will not rise for the upcoming academic year. 

Fajack said that the rates would remain unchanged as the University is still in the beginning stages of a formal master five-year plan for Transportation Services. 

“This process involves a committee comprised of students, faculty and staff organizations as well as UA departments and colleges,” Fajack said. “As announced previously, we felt it was important to analyze, evaluate and chart the future of our parking and transportation operations. We’re fortunate to be in a position to hold rate increases for the 2019-2020 academic year and focus on planning for the future.” 

In the past, the University has increased parking permit prices annually. The permit rates have seen an annual increase of between $20-$30 in recent years to help fund various transportation costs, including operating and maintenance costs for campus buses, road paving and parking facilities. 

The University announced the master transportation plan in October 2018 after suspending plans to implement an evening parking permit plan that was set to take effect in the spring 2019 semester. The evening permit would have required faculty and staff to purchase a separate permit to park in the green surface lots, perimeter areas and the upper Recreation Center lot adjacent to Peter Bryce Boulevard between 3 p.m. and 7 a.m., and all surface lots, excluding reserved and gated lots, between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Campus safety and additional revenue were cited by the University as the reasons behind the evening permit. The new permit drew criticism and concerns about the ability of faculty and staff to take on the additional cost of the permit and the additional burden on departments with events scheduled during the evening. 

The University announced that a working team of students, faculty and staff representatives will conduct a detailed evaluation of campus parking to create a more inclusive process for reviewing, evaluating and recommending parking priorities and changes.