Parking permits at Ohio State University are increasing in price again by 4%.
CampusParc, a private company, operates the garages and lots where students, faculty and staff park. But how do prices compare to other public universities in the U.S.? It depends on where you go.
The 4% price hike isn't new. An over-decade old, nearly $500 million agreement, allows CampusParc to operate the parking lots and garages on campus. In that agreement, there is a 4% cap on price increases.
CampusParc President and CEO Sarah Blouch told WOSU other cheaper options exist for students, staff and faculty.
"Clearly nobody likes price increases. Nobody likes to pay for parking either... but, I think the people who buy it year over year are used to that. They understand it goes up and we try to publicize and we put the rates out there early so they know what that is," Blouch said.
How does Ohio State University's parking permit system work?
OSU's permitting system is complicated and prices range greatly depending on which permit you get. Parking garage permits are more expensive compared to surface lots that are further away from central campus.
The highest permit OSU faculty and administrative staff can buy now costs $1,396 a year, or $116.40. That annual cost is also prorated depending on what month of the year you buy it in. The term usually starts in August at that top price.
That permit, called Permit A, gets you the most bang for your buck with access to 11,000 dedicated spaces across campus for Permit A. On top of that, you get access to basically every other parking spot in garages or surface lots. It is available to faculty and administrative staff only.
Other permits offer less spaces or are specific to certain lots or garages. Permits are also dependent on whether you are a faculty member, staff or a student.
Other annual permits available to faculty and staff range from as low as $362 a year at the lot south of Ackerman Road north of campus to $1,302 a year for Permit B in a garage.
Student annual permits range from $171 for a West Campus permit to a $1,229 permit for access to garages.
Other off campus street parking is available nearby in the University District. Students, employees, visitors and staff who take advantage of this do have to be wary of parking where paid street parking is required and pay attention to what days the city of Columbus conducts street sweeping.
OSU tends to be more expensive for faculty and staff to park, but cheaper for students.
In a study of 11 universities by the University of Las Vegas Nevada, OSU had the second highest cost for faculty parking rates. The study looked at each university's most costly permit, which for OSU was Permit A.
Only the University of Washington had a more costly faculty and staff permit option at $2,000 a year. The University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities had the cheapest annual staff permit at $112.
For students, OSU was lower than average at just under $500 a year when only looking at surface lots, which the university said is not limited beyond qualifications. Those more expensive garage permits are very limited in availability.
The most expensive student permit was again at the University of Washington at $1,350. The least expensive was at the University of Texas at Austin at $169 per year.
OSU fines more for parking violations than the city of Columbus by a lot
Another factor in parking prices at OSU is how much it costs to get a parking ticket, or worse towed.
Towing is much more of a risk on city streets near campus, especially because of the street sweeping schedule when the city tends to tow many cars.
If drivers are towed by the city of Columbus on a street sweeping day and need to retrieve a vehicle, people have to pay $125 for the tow, and $70 of that fee goes to the contracted towing company.
Owners have to pay a $55 ticket and $18 a day for storage in the city's impound lot. If owners don’t pick up their vehicles within two or three days, unclaimed vehicles are evaluated for auction after a notification process that takes several months.
By comparison, Ohio State University tickets at $92.50 for a standard parking violation. It then costs $166.25 if your vehicle is towed to the impound lot and then another $332.50 to get an impounded vehicle released.
That's an almost $600 cost if you are towed by CampusParc versus the city of Columbus.
Blouch admits its a high price, but towing is more rare. She said that usually only happens to repeat offenders.
"We don't want to hide in the bushes and catch people. So we go through all the parking lots daily. But it's a different time each day," Blouch said.
OSU does fine less if a violator parks in a handicap space on campus compared to the city of Columbus. Violators on campus get fined $462, whereas violators in the city of Columbus are fined $500.
