Colorado State University Parking and Transportation Services has decided to enforce summer parking rates Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. in order to raise money for maintenance and parking lot repairs.

The decision to require parking permits in commuter and residence hall parking lots during summer months is new this semester due to the $1.5-million budget the Parking and Transportation Services needs to keep in order to maintain parking lots. 

Brian Grube, the associate director of finance and administration at Parking and Transportation Services, said that a majority of the money raised for maintaining on-campus parking lots comes from parking revenue.

“Parking is required by state statute to be self-funded, so maintenance costs are repairs are funded by parking revenue, with the majority of funds coming from permits,” Grube said.

Hourly rates have been enforced year-round in faculty and staff parking spaces, as well as Pay-to-Park spots designated for students and visitors of CSU. Pay-to-Park parking lots include those at the Lory Student Center, Morgan Library, near Moby Arena, Hartshorn Health Center and Lake Street Garage. Hourly parking payment rates can be paid for at any pay station located in the designated parking lot with regular cash, credit card or RamCash. Among payment methods is the WayToPark application, which allows students to pay for their parking space through their phone. 

“Parking and Transportation Services accepts RamCash in our office for permit and citation payments,” Grube said. “It is also accepted at all of our short-term (hourly) pay stations.”

Students who purchased parking permits for the 2015-2016 school year will be allowed to use their permit until the July 31 expiration date. New permits for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year can be purchased online through the Parking and Transportation Services website starting June 1.

There is also a summer parking permit that is available for purchase and runs from the Monday after Spring Commencement and lasts until the Sunday before classes begin in the fall. Students can charge their parking permit fees to their student account.

“I like living on campus because it makes it easier to find parking on campus,” said Stephanie Thompson, a freshman biochemistry major. “It’s helpful that our parking permits last until July 31 because I’ll be coming into town for work over summer, and that just makes finding parking easier for me.”

MAX bus routes will be running on regular schedules all summer, and CSU students can ride for free with their student ID. Transfort routes will be running on regular schedules all summer as well, excluding routes such as the 31, 32 and 33 that only run when CSU is in session. Around the Horn will also continue to run all summer on a less frequent schedule of every 30 minutes rather than every 10 minutes.

“For those that do not want to pay to park on campus, bicycling, walking and skateboarding are great options during the summer months,” Grube said.

Collegian Reporter Savannah Hoag can be reached online at news@collegian.com or via Twitter @sav_hoag.