Carleton University announced on Sept. 10 that it is waiving all parking fees for the fall term and could do the same for the winter semester.
Brian Billings, the director of Campus Safety Services, which oversees parking, said that the primary reason behind the decision was to support staff who continue to work on campus.
“We wouldn’t want to charge parking fees for the staff that needs to come into campus to do their job,” Billings said. “It wouldn’t be fair if the people who could work from home didn’t have to pay for parking, but the people who need to come to campus for work have to pay for parking.”
Billings said he believes that most campus buildings will remain closed without a COVID-19 vaccine and the university will waive parking fees for the winter term.
Despite waiving fees, Billings said he is not worried about losing profits.
“[Parking] is self-supporting based on the user fees it collects,” Billings said. “We had an aggregate surplus from last year to make up for any losses this year.”
Billings said the university is still discouraging students from coming to campus and does not believe that waiving fees will incentivize students to do so.
“There’s really no draw to be here other than the library or athletics,” Billings said. “All other resources can be accessed from home.”
Some students said they are enjoying the perks of the waived fees. Aliyah Jarvis, a first-year social work student living in residence, said the free parking is a big relief.
“I normally take the bus to get around, but with COVID-19, I feel safer using my car to get around. Now I can,” Jarvis said.
On the other hand, Jarvis also said the waived parking fees could incentivize people coming to campus when it is not necessary.
Nolan Duff, a second-year engineering student, also said he supports the waived parking fees.
“I paid roughly $450 for a pass last year and used all facilities on campus. This year, the only thing I go to campus for is the gym,” Duff said.
Duff added that he doesn’t think it would be fair for him to pay for a parking pass with the school-year being online.
“I’m already paying for an athletics fee, and I’m paying my full tuition cost … for a reduced education,” Duff said.
