Cars on Campus
Cars on Campus
College costs are steadily rising across the country. Keeping a vehicle on campus is rising along with tuition and fees. This is a huge concern for many students, and they are looking for alternatives to the current parking and payment nightmares.
Fees to park on campus range from $50 per year, up to $50 per month, depending on the size of the school. And there is nothing more annoying than racking up the parking tickets because you decided to forego a parking pass. Many parking tickets are issued due to the student inventing their own parking places. In general, colleges will sell a significantly larger number of parking passes than they actually have spaces for. This causes a lot of stress on campus dwellers and commuters alike.
The best option is to first decide whether or not you actually need to have a car on campus. Depending on the location of the university, many of the necessities are in close range to the dorms and classrooms. Schools that are in a metro area will usually have easy access to public transportation. This will not only save money on gas and parking, but will eliminate the chance of anyone driving under the influence after a great night of fun.
However, there are the campus locations that have somewhat limited access to areas of interest or necessity. These places find many more students wanting to keep a car on campus rather than relying on unsafe public transportation. The students who do keep a car there are suddenly everyone’s best friend, and wind up incurring even more expenses doing favors for those who don’t have a car.
Add up the parking passes, car maintenance, gas prices, insurance, and being nice to your campus mates and the cost of cars on campus become astronomical. They may be a necessity for students who work off campus. They are not, however, seen as much of a luxury anymore.
Car sharing is an option that is not widely offered, but may become more popular as the push for more environmentally friendly transportation continues to thrive. This idea of renting a car on an hourly basis has now come to include over 70 campus communities.
Beginning in New York City, companies offered short term rentals for paying a monthly membership to a car sharing company. Basically, students who would like to have a car available to them, but do not own one, pay for a membership to share cars. Then when they have errands to run on the weekend, they simply reserve a car and get on their way. They pay a monthly membership fee, and then anywhere from $5 to $10 per hour of rental.
Traditionally, a car rental agency will require all drivers of their vehicles to be at least 25 years old. Now the two largest companies in the car-sharing industry have lowered their required age just 18. Those that are under 25 are required to provide proof of insurance in another capacity, but regular rental fees and membership benefits cover the cost of temporary insurance during the time of the rental.
If your college does not offer the share a car option, look into rental prices around the campus, and decide if it is more practical to simply rent a car on weekends you plan to visit at home. But be sure to suggest the program at any chance you get. Colleges subsidize the program for just two years on average before the company takes over with their own profit. Not only will it be less expensive for the college to contract a company like this, but it will save the earth as well with less frivolous car trips to and from campus.
eduiq @ May 11, 2008