( lakewentworth / flikr )

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon, the sun was beaming, the birds were chirpin’ and I was feeling like a Greek god after ending one my on-air shifts…until I get to my car.

I paid for my parking but there it was. The parking ticket.

First, I was frustrated that I was going to have to call a number, talk to someone for an hour and dispute a ticket that I clearly paid for.

Then, after I accepted that fact, I started asking myself; Why do I have to pay to park at my school?

I don’t see how this makes much sense in any way. Well one way, I guess.

Profit.

What other explanation could there be?

In general, the two main reasons for parking meters is to control parking/traffic and to make money. That being said, schools can manager the lots in different ways and do they really need to squeeze out more money from students for simply leaving their car between two white lines?

If anyone says it’s to control the parking lot so people don’t park there and then take the skytrain or whatnot, this is a red-herring.

A “red-herring” is a fish that was used by hunters back-in-the-day. After it was smoked, it would turn red and with its foul smell, the hunters would drag it across the ground forming a trail so it would divert wolves and other predators from the hunters’ actual trail. It was something to distract the predators from what was really going on.

( Sergey Kosarev / flikr )

The “we can’t have just anyone park in our lot” is a definite red-herring because that can be solved by a simple pass.

If I’m a student or part of the staff, then I would get a pass that’s displayed on my vehicle. If the vehicle doesn’t display the pass, a ticket is issued. If you’re neither a student nor staff, you forgot your pass or you’re just visiting for the day, then you’ll have to pay.

So, if we can scratch that argument out as it’s irrelevant, then what about the almighty dollar?

The agreements between the business and the parking company are negotiated and can change from lot to lot, business to business. But, at the end of the day both sides are making money.

This may sound very naïve and ignorant, but why are schools trying to make even more money? Is the money from tuition just not enough?

My tuition for two years is in the range of $15,000 to $16,000. Multiply that number by about 33 students, and we’ll use the lower number in this instance.

$15,000 x 33 = $495,000.

So, the school is taking in around half a million dollars from just one program. Then multiply that by how many programs there are and it must be considered that some programs are more expensive than others and have more students.

That’s more dough than Pillsbury.

( kingkong21 / flikr )

Now, how much is a student paying for parking over two years?

A weekly pass is $27.50 and minus the holdays and spring break, we’re in school for about 68 weeks weeks over the two years.

$27.50 x 68 weeks = $ 1,870.

$1,870 x 33 students = $61,710

No wonder they charge for parking.

Again, consider the many other programs and students. That’s only one class, over only two years.

As a business, that makes perfect sense but a school’s priority shouldn’t be profit. They already make enough from the tuition itself, there’s no need to get even more.

Furthermore, students are exactly that: students. We aren’t working full time, some may not even be able to have a job due to their schedules, yet we have to pay even more money to go to school?

And what’s the service that I’m even paying for? To leave my car stationary on concrete at a place that I’ve already paid to be?

That’s like being a member of a golf club, but you have to pay to park at the course. No one would ever accept that.

( William Ross / flikr )

Schools make plenty of money in so many areas. The money they get from parking, yes, it’s a high number but in relative terms, it’s not that much. Consider how much tuition gets paid each year by all the students in all the programs. That $1,870 is a lot more important to a student who barely works than the school that’s already making millions without those parking charges.

I hate paying for parking anywhere, I think it’s mostly just a money-making scheme; you’re literally leaving your car in a spot and you have to pay for that. But in some areas, I can understand it. It stops people from parking all day then running off leaving a person who actually needs that spot not able to take it. That’s fair, but that’s not the case with schools.

If I’m paying to study at the school, I shouldn’t have to pay again to actually attend it with my own vehicle, but this won’t ever change. No one will ever say, “Hey, let’s make less money!”, but it’s something to question and think about.