In a controversial move aimed at improving campus safety, the University of Arizona this fall created weekend parking rates at all on-campus garages. 

Parking had always been free during the weekends at UA garages. The new policy, which has sparked both anger and resignation among students, is a part of the university’s recent effort to manage parking usage while decreasing crime rates on university property. 

Kaitlin Avechucho-Turley, manager of customer relations for UA parking and transportation, said that introducing weekend parking rates was essentially driven by safety concerns. Before, students and faculty with a parking permit could park for free in any garage over the weekend. 

Under the new policy, rates are $2 an hour in any campus garage from 5 a.m. to 4:59 p,m,  Evening rates from 5-11:59 p.m. and morning rates from midnight to 4:59 a.m. are $1 per hour.  

Avechucho-Turley said that there has been an increase in crime and vandalism in the parking garages, and the goal of charging for parking during the weekends is to reduce that.

The crimes that occasionally occur in garages include car theft, breaking into cars, loitering and vandalism of parked cars. The parking and transportation department has given out hundreds of wheel locks to prevent cars from getting stolen, Avenchucho-Turley said. In fact, they have distributed every wheel lock they acquired for this purpose, but more are coming in soon.

A wheel lock is a lug nut designed to make it almost impossible for a thief to steal your wheel.

“What we saw was that when we were 24-5 (open for 24 hours, five days a week) and the gates were down overnight during the weekdays, that greatly reduced the type of crime in the garages,” Avenchucho-Turley said.

Additionally, the new parking fees addressed the problem of managing parking usage and availability for students and faculty who purchased permits.

“It’s not really about any sort of revenue. That wasn’t really concerning at all,” Avechuco-Turley said. “It was all about the safety concern and also making sure that we have enough parking for our staff and students who purchased parking permits.” 

Avenchucho-Turley said that in previous years, visitors or people not affiliated with the university would park their vehicles in the garages over the weekend.  That created a problem for permit holders looking for a parking spot. 

When access was free on the weekends, the garage gate arms would remain raised so that cars could enter without drivers having to pay, Avenchucho-Turley added. However, since there was no way to track how many cars came in during that time, if those cars remained in the garages when parking fees resumed on Monday, the actual number of cars in the garage could not be properly gauged. As a result, no one was sure how many parking spaces were vacant.  

Unsurprisingly, students who live off-campus and relied on free parking for weekend social events and study hours said they are not happy with the new policy. 

Matthew Mackleit, who is working on his master’s degree in accounting, parked in the Main Gate garage on weekends when he came to campus to study or socialize.  

“This year, with the new weekend parking structure, I find that more students are going to pay for Ubers, which adds up with everything else we have to pay for at this school,”  Mackleitsaid. 

On the other hand, he agreed with the university’s increased focus on campus security and safety.

“I do recognize the fact that the school is taking big measures to make our school more safe,” Mackleit said. “There have been some brutal crimes that have been committed on campus and I think that this could definitely make our school more safe.” 

Avechuco-Turley said that representatives from her office met with community partners and university officials to collect feedback before implementing the new policy. 

“We did get some feedback from our community first, and we had told a lot of our community members that we would be implementing this change,” Avechuco-Turley said. “We haven’t heard a lot of pushback from our faculty, staff and students because most of them are current permit holders, and their permits still allow them to park over the weekend.”

Although the new parking rates definitely create a boost in revenue for the UA’s self-funded parking and transportation department, Avechuco-Turley reiterated that the decision to change the weekend fees was not about the money.

“Our parking and transportation is a completely self-funded auxiliary unit of the university. We don’t receive funding from the university. All of our funding and revenue and money is completely separate from the university,” Avechuco-Turley said. “Currently, it is looking to be a permanent change.”

While parking for free is not an option in on-campus garages, the surface lots all around campus remain free on weekends. 

“All of our lot specifics around campus are free on the weekends,” Avechuco-Turley confirmed.

The 2024 parking permits sold for $726 for 25/7 parking from Aug. 19, 2024, through Aug. 15, 2025, in lots and the 10 parking garages: Honors Village, Cherry, Park, Sixth Street, Tyndall, Main Gate, Second Street, South Stadium, Highland and Health Sciences.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.