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For most non-freshmen at the University of Michigan, living off campus is the only viable option given the limited amount of housing the University provides. Some students are able to live within walking distance of campus, but Ann Arbor’s average monthly rent of $2,043 forces others to live farther away. This leaves students to depend on commuting to campus via car or bus. Despite the substantial number of students who commute to campus, there is nowhere to park.
The lack of parking spaces and passes disadvantages students who cannot live close to campus, whether they are priced out of a closer housing market or commute for extenuating circumstances. Collectively, students give the University hundreds of millions in annual tuition. The University is thus obligated to create more equitable access to parking, by either creating more spaces or addressing the root cause of the issue:high cost of living.
For undergraduate students, parking is separated based on student status. Juniors and seniors have access to an Orange Parking Permit where they can park in designated parking lots on North Campus, Ross Athletic Campus and the West Side. Students have to then take the various Blue Bus services from those lots to wherever their classes are located.
Students can also apply for Student Storage permits, which are designed for students who infrequently use their cars. If the University-provided options aren’t feasible, students can opt for Ann Arbor sponsored parking, which grants free parking on difficult-to-find, unmetered streets. And, if they choose to go with none of these options, they can pay $2.20 per hour at the meter or $1.80 per hour at a structure, neither option being feasible nor cost-effective. Lastly, students can pay for monthly permits through city parking structures for $225 per month with an additional fee for overnight parking.
This current system is severely inequitable for students. If you can’t afford the $2,043 in rent each month or have extenuating circumstances that prevent you from living close to campus, you are forced to pay more. Furthermore, it is the students who can’t afford higher rents that take on the bulk of parking tickets. Ann Arbor made roughly $20 million in 2023 parking ticket revenue. For students struggling to make ends meet, parking tickets upward of $70 can impact their ability to pay for groceries for the week.
Faced with the possibility of high parking costs and limited space, many students choose not to bring cars to campus, despite needing them. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Engineering junior Elizabeth Borg discussed her choice.
“I had a car over the summer but I figured I wouldn’t have anywhere to park it during the school year,” Borg said. “It’s too expensive, too crowded and pointless to have a car on campus right now.”
For Borg, having a car simply isn’t worth it. She would have to pay for a parking pass at the University and her apartment complex without the guarantee of a parking spot on campus. This makes it harder for Borg to get to classes, shop for groceries and even visit home on the occasional weekend off.
This problem isn’t unique to the University of Michigan; it plagues most college campuses. Though their campus is much larger than ours, Michigan State University faces similar problems with parking access. It’s always difficult to provide enough parking for a massive amount of people all packed into the same small space.
Even with the administrative and practical challenges, the University has the ability to remedy the parking crisis. First, the University needs to expand parking for freshmen and sophomores living off campus., as it currently doesn’t have enough parking spaces to give out passes to these groups of students. In order to expand parking passes, it must build more parking lots. The University could look at partnering with The Ride to expand lots on State Street near the Ross Athletic Campus. Additionally, U-M administrators could look at expanding lots on North Campus near Baits I or the Northwood Apartments.
Given the limited amount of U-M-provided housing, it’s vital that it provides at least the bare minimum of resources to students forced to live off-campus. The University has forgotten these students, placing them in a weird limbo of not having guaranteed housing or a way to get to campus.
But expanding parking could create greater problems. Building parking structures and lots is expensive and takes up the little space Ann Arbor still has to offer. Additional parking also invites more vehicles into Ann Arbor, which will negatively impact the University’s net zero emissions goals.
There’s an argument to be made about reducing emissions. If the University wants to reduce emissions, why don’t they just make students walk? To understand the flaws in this thinking, one needs to look at the reason students are driving in the first place. The United States is built for drivers. There are currently no better alternatives for commuter students, and there won’t be unless the government starts investing serious funding into driving alternatives. Expanding parking access will not encourage more students to drive; it will simply help those who are forced to.
A better solution would intertwine the construction of more parking and investment in public transportation. Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan have a vast network of buses that need improvement. Overcrowding of buses and rerouting due to construction makes the service unreliable for off-campus students. Lastly, the University needs to work to provide more affordable housing options for students. The new Elbel Field dorms provide a starting point, but the University needs to make more concrete investments in housing on campus for students.
The University of Michigan must offer more parking support to students — both on and off campus. Students who drive are placed at a disadvantage to their peers simply because of the price they are able to pay. Students need to call on the University administration to provide more affordable housing, create more parking lots and invest in transportation services like The Ride and the Blue Bus system. This will ensure that all students have equal access to campus.
Eliza Phares is an Opinion Columnist who writes about U-M administrative policy and campus life. She can be reached at ephares@umich.edu. Her column “Campus Conversations” runs bi-weekly on Thursdays.
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