The parking fees within the Akademiska Hus property portfolio had been unchanged since 2010, making them lower than fees for equivalent parking locations within Uppsala Municipality.
It is with this in mind that Akademiska Hus is now raising the fee for customers who pay according to tariff 2.
From 1 July, it will cost SEK ten per hour to park according to tariff 2 (i.e. for Uppsala University employees) on weekdays between 08:00 and 18:00, compared to the current SEK two per hour. The daily rate will be SEK 40 (compared to the current rate of SEK 20) and the monthly rate will be SEK 700 – a fairly large price increase compared to the previous rate.
During other hours, parking will be free just as before.
According to Peter Elenfalk, Property Director at Uppsala University, the University has no say over the rate of the parking fees.
“No, we have little ability to influence the parking fees. These are decided by the property owner, Akademiska Hus, in consultation with Uppsala Municipality. We need to understand that the University has a central location, and we must therefore base the rate on parking fees elsewhere in Uppsala. In this comparison, I think we are still at a fairly reasonable level,” he says. He adds:
“I was concerned that they would do away with tariff 2. They did not, and that feels good.”
Just as before, a tariff 2 ticket is valid throughout Akademiska Hus' property portfolio, so you do not need to get a new ticket if you switch campuses before the end time on the ticket. However, you do need to pay attention to the posted signs, as certain parking areas require a special permit.
No subsidies
A frequent question is whether it would be possible for the University to subsidise the cost of parking spaces. The answer is that doing so would be considered a wage benefit, which is taxable for the individual.
Another option would be for the University to rent all of the parking spaces and then give employees free access to them. However, Peter Elenfalk rejects this idea:
“We will not have our own parking, but instead cooperate with the functions found in the municipality, not least from the perspective of fairness. We have several campuses where we cannot offer parking at all.”
Investing in sustainable infrastructure
Decisions regarding the number of parking spaces (parking ratios) are made by the municipality. The University’s role is to ensure that there are good conditions for what has been decided. At the Ångström Laboratory, a number of parking spaces were lost during construction of a new building. Temporary parking was set up a little farther away towards Grindstugan and BMC, but it has been shown that employees are not using it. So, it is now open to others.
In its information, Akademiska Hus writes that it has set high climate targets and that they plan to invest in sustainable infrastructure within the Uppsala campus areas in the autumn in order to create even greener campuses. The sustainability vision that the University defined in partnership with Akademiska Hus focuses, among other things, on changing behaviours and creating greater opportunities for people to, for example, cycle to and from work – and as part of their work.
Charging posts for electric cars, roofs over existing bicycle parking stands, bicycle parking garages for more secure bicycle storage, and charging cabinets for bicycle batteries are just some improvements that could become a reality in the future.
“We are also studying the possibility of being able to offer our cyclists additional services if the bicycle is used during working hours. But, these matters have not yet been fully investigated and we will have to come back to them at a later date,” says Peter Elenfalk.