Just wondering whether it would be better to invest in a parking lot sticker or rely on meters or rare spots on the road. Mostly, which costs more in the end?

Thanks!

This largly depends on how your schedule is. If you have many night classes, or classes after 5:00, parking is free then anyway, so don't bother with a parking permit, and take the road or meters during the day.

However, if you are on campus for 15-17 hours, the meters are usually $.25/hour (for the long-term ones, not the 30min spots). That is $3.75 to $4.25 per week respectively. We have about 17 weeks of classes (accounting for the days off) and that adds up to $63.75 to $72.25 per semester. Obviously this is much more expensive than a parking permit would be over the course of a year, and these lots can fill up rather quickly, but a shorter period of time or fewer class hours may be different.

A parking pass costs $100+ at the beginning of the school year, and is usually pro-rated after that. So one semester should cost somewhere around $50.00, however, I am not sure how they do their pro-rating. Regardless, for a moderate to heavy class load, this is probably the cheapest way to go. You will also have the guarentee of a parking spot (most of the time).

For your particular situation, you will have to just run some numbers. Find out just how much time you spend on campus, what time of day most of that time will be, and go from there.

As for parking on the road, good luck. Lately, I haven't had too much trouble finding a spot during the few times I am too lazy to walk, but the one I find is usually the only one on the block.

Well, there are the two of us with the one car, and keeping in mind that even if some of our classes correspond, it will still be cheaper (for us) to buy the permit. Good call.

i live right behind taco bell, its a 10min walk to EE, and there are always tons of spots on the roads over by my house, just have to do the death march across 63

i know i bought a parking permit once and there were never any open spots in the parking lot so it sucked...i suggest finding a spot on the road for free...if you can find one park where it is painted yellow, the police only catch you once a month, and its only a $5 ticket. over the course of 9 months that is only $45, by far the cheapest option

If your by Taco Bell you could cross University Drive (toward the over priced res. hall) and use the tunnel.

One of my friends illegally parked in a loading zone every day for a semester and got two tickets for something like $30. Your own milage may vary.

its really not that bad, most times when im going to class i rarely even have to stop and wait for traffic. I always wondered if it was Jwalking but i walked across in front of a cop multiple time and have yet to get stopped.

its not jwalking if you are within 50 feet of any cross walk

I did it in front of a highway patrol yesterday. Didn't realize who it was. I even had to stop in the center lane and it kept him from turning. So I guess it can't be too illegal. ftr, i was not within sight of a cross walk (I was near Hardees and the closest cross walk is 10th Street

I thought it was jaywalking if you were within 100 feet, because then they wanted you to use the crosswalk, but if there are none around, then they don't stop you from crossing the street.

It is "jaywalking" by the way.

Don't tell us. I want to claim ignorance.

I got a meter key from UPO. It works in any meter on campus and is nice to have if you cant find a spot on the road.

it IS jaywalking, and they CAN give you a ticket.
if they want to. it's at the cop's discretion whether or not if they want to fuck with you.