Sheridan parking fees to rise again in September

STORY BY COURTNEY BLOK

PHOTOS BY COURTNEY BLOK

Students returning to Sheridan in September will get a bit of sticker shock.

Fees for parking at all campuses will be rising as part of the increase phased in over three years.

The current price of $430 for two semesters, or $495 for the entire year, will jump to $480 for two semesters and $545 for the year. Anyone wanting to take advantage of “preferred parking”, which is closer to the school, will be paying $645.

“A couple of a years ago, we went through an exercise of assessing all of our peer institutions in the area, like the University of Toronto, Mohawk and Humber,” said Jeff Zabudsky, president of Sheridan. “We identified what they charged for parking. That essentially gave us a view of what the market was.”

Colleges closer to Sheridan, such as Humber and Mohawk, have parking rates set at $598 and $534 respectively for two semesters.

Many Sheridan students are troubled by the cost.

“I went to Brock before and it was cheaper there,” said Sabrina Woodstock, a first-year Visual Merchandising student. “It’s stressful. It’s an extra cost I have to pay for on top of everything else that comes with school. It’s overwhelming sometimes.”

Taranpreet Ahluwalia, a third-year Mechanical Engineering Technology student, thinks the current rate is fair but is concerned for future students.

“I am going to be graduating at the end of 2015 anyways,” said Ahluwalia. “But for the future students, I don’t see this as a good sign if the prices keep rising like this.”

Zabudsky said that after one more increase, due in September 2015, the parking rates shouldn’t fluctuate too much.

“What we did was identified what the average was, and made a plan to add in new fees for parking over a couple of years,” said Zabudsky.

The September increase is the last of a planned three-year process raising the college’s parking rates.

Loy at Trafalgar Campus, fills up quickly most mornings.

While Sheridan compares well in price with institutions in the GTA, it’s still more expensive than other Ontario colleges.

This year, Fanshawe College’s parking rates for two semesters is listed at $332.

“I’m looking into parking for next year. I think parking prices in general are rather high,” said Jordon Caldwell, a first-year Business – Insurance student at Fanshawe. “I live far away from school and need to have a spot.”

St. Clair College in Windsor currently charges $250 for gated parking and $200 for non-gated parking.

“To me, it’s way overpriced. It’s about $250 and it’s about 50 feet away from the other parking,” said Morgan Wickham, a first-year Pre-Health and Sciences student at St. Clair.

After hearing about Sheridan’s parking prices, both Caldwell and Wickham said they wouldn’t pay that much.

Other colleges and universities, such as York University or University of Toronto, don’t have designated parking lots. Instead, there are lots scattered throughout the city that run on parking metres, which can cost $20 per day. Some institutions have the option of paying more to park closer, including Sheridan, which instituted a “preferred parking” program that began at the start of the fall semester.