Is it Worth Gambling on UNR Parking Tickets Rather than Paying for a Costly Pass?
Reporting, photos and visuals by Kiana Freeman, Kyra Marangi, and Lexi Darcy
Parking at the University of Nevada, as well as associated costs and headaches, has been an ongoing issue for years. It’s a sad reality at UNR for many to pay hundreds for a parking pass and still constantly struggle to find a parking spot on campus, leaving many students frustrated with the university.
As announced in an email in March, in the upcoming 2024–2025 year, UNR will be increasing the price of parking passes yet again, this time by three percent for all students.
The most popular Silver parking garages, most recently costing $523, will now necessitate a $539 payment.
Walking times from parking garages to classes can take upwards of 12 minutes, with the majority of parking garages being on the opposite side of many class buildings. Many paths also ignore accessibility routes, lacking ramp ways for wheelchair users.
With broken elevators inside parking garages, numerous reports of car break-ins, long walks to buildings, and limited parking spaces, students have begun to wonder if their rising parking fees are being used to make the services better or just costlier.
According to the UNR website, the most recent parking increase was of 2.5% in 2023. As increases continue, students have begun to question whether a pass is really worth it, or whether it makes more sense just to risk getting multiple tickets.
“The increase is not fair,” says Kristina Helms, a student currently with a Silver 17 pass.
“I live off campus so I’m not able to walk and my classes were in the afternoon so I also usually had to go up to the fourth floor just to barely find a spot. Why are we paying so much just to get to class?” Helm asks.
According to the UNR website, parking and transportation services are funded fully by parking pass sales from students.
The most recent parking garage, the Gateway Parking Complex, located at the corner of Lake and East Ninth Streets, holds 814 parking spaces. According to the UNR website, it was built and opened in 2023 with funds that the university received from its parking permit sales.
Preferring not to pay, many find their own parking spaces around the university, parking on streets such as Sierra, around local stores, and in nearby neighborhoods. Residents near the campus have shared their own frustrations, and are increasingly getting City Council to approve resident-only parking zones in nearby areas.
There are other methods. “Me and my roommates just share a pass, and usually try to carpool to campus,” one student said anonymously.
“All of us think it’s ridiculous to buy a pass for one person– we are broke college students.”
Meanwhile, more and more students are opting to park in spaces without permits on campus, risking parking tickets, and towing.
“I have paid up to $280 in parking tickets, but that’s still $220 less than the price of a reasonable parking spot in West Stadium,” one student said, also preferring to be anonymous.
“Violations differ depending on the area you park on campus. A parking violation is a charge of 20 dollars, and if you don’t pay it in two weeks, it automatically doubles…. and parking in reserved areas comes with a fine of 50 dollars.”
“Parking passes are way too expensive. My sister at another university only pays 60 dollars for the entire year. It makes me question why our parking is so expensive compared to other universities,” another student shared.
