College-issued parking permits have unexpectedly increased to 6,700 this winter compared to 6,150 at the same period last year.
“Permit sales have been up compare to previous years surprisingly enough,” said Roch Lafond, manager of Parking, Lockers and Card Services.
Unlike previous years, about 97 per cent of parking spaces have been occupied this winter, thereby eliminating the wait list.
Last year, the college parking services had about 6000 people on the waiting list, but this year the list was cleared to almost nothing.
“A lot has changed this year with the U-Pass,” said Lafond.
“We weren’t expecting an increase in demand for parking permits this winter semester since most students have their U-Passes.”
Considering the fact that the U-Pass was only introduced last fall, statistics show that it hasn’t affected the demand for parking permits.
Some students take advantage of both the U-Pass and parking permits depending on where they are working.
“Permit sales have been the same throughout the fall and winter semester, but we didn’t know what to expect in the winter,” said Lafond.
Based on the transportation scheduling and class times with regards to parking on campus, Lafond said most users say it is very convenient and beneficial especially for the winter semester.
While there has been a parking permit increase, the use of the $9 dollars flat-rate permits has declined. This is because students are now purchasing weekly and monthly permits instead of the daily flat-rate.
“We try to accommodate any type of parking you need,” said Lafond.
Weekly permits are usually issued to resident students whose parents have borrowed them a car to use for a couple of weeks.
With the monthly permits, if you buy one on the 15th, it expires on the same date next month.
“It is cheaper to buy an annual permit,” said Lafond.