Parking in the Loop:

January 2007 issue

Why doesn't the university offer discounted parking for staff and faculty at the Loop campus? Staff and faculty at the Lincoln Park campus pay $480 a year for parking. I pay $2,000 a year to park in the loop. It puts quite a dent into my earnings. I understand the university owns the parking lot next to the law school building yet staff and faculty don't even get a discount at that lot. I know there is a machine that stamps your ticket to be used at some lots but the discount is not enough. Thanks.

Response

Source: Bob Janis
Title: Vice President
Unit/Department: Facility Operations
Extension: 2-8682

Response: DePaul does not own any parking in the Loop, and cannot, therefore, set any rates on its own or force any discounts with Loop parking vendors beyond what they already offer. While we do own the ground under the lot south of Lewis Center, that is not our parking operation. Park One, the name of the operator, is a tenant on the land who sets their own rates. They do offer a discount to DePaul staff, but it is not a substantial one. The best discount there seems to be offered to evening division students and staff/faculty who park in the evening hours.

There are parking lots further south on Wabash, two to four blocks away, that are significantly cheaper in their daily rates. A bit more of a walk, but the cheaper rate is worth it.

The thing that is difficult in this is to compare Loop private parking rates to the $480 annual rate at LPC. The LPC situation, cost wise, is a wonderful deal for those who choose to/must drive to campus and use DePaul lots. In all cases at LPC we own the land under the lots, and can therefore charge what we want, which in this case is a very low rate that we subsidize to a very large extent. This is not anything that we can do downtown in relation to private lots (providing some form of subsidy), as it would have great adverse impact on the university's budget, which in the end affects all students, to include those who do not drive to campus. Our subsidy at LPC already does that to an extent, and it would not be prudent for us to expand that subsidy any further.