‘Isn't it strange that we have to pay to go to work?’

Cars slowly trickle into the car park near the Kruyt building. It is Friday morning, which is certainly not the busiest day of the week at Utrecht Science Park. At the barrier, it is simply a matter of holding one's campus card up to the scanner and driving through.

Parking at Utrecht Science Park is free for UU employees, but that is about to change. The day before, the university announced that employees will pay 1 euro a day to park at the P + R. Other car parks will charge 4 euros a day. Employees with a disability will continue to enjoy free parking.

Many employees seem to be unaware of the news. One lecturer-researcher, who prefers to remain anonymous, calls the new policy 'ridiculous'. In her view, the change is unnecessary because 'cycling is already encouraged enough.' Many other employees asked DUB to remain anonymous as well. 

She lives within cycling distance of the university, but says that she sometimes needs to come to campus by car. Public transport is not an option for her. ‘I live in a village where there is practically no public transport, and cycling sometimes takes too long. If I need to pick up the children from school quickly after work, for example.'

A little further on, a PhD candidate says it is ‘a bit strange to have to pay to go to work’. She thinks that four euros is quite a lot, especially considering she needs to be at Utrecht Science Park five days a week.

Too long
The new parking policy aims to encourage employees to use public transport or cycle to work more often. However, doing so will prove impossible for many employees. The biggest obstacle in their way is not the crowded trams – which, incidentally, look pretty quiet today – or the price of travelling by public transport. It is just that it takes much longer for them to come to work by public transport.

A building manager who lives in Almere takes 40 minutes to reach the campus by car. Using public transport, his journey to work would take an hour longer. ‘That's two hours of wasted time every day.’

An assistant professor says: ‘It takes me over two hours to get here by train and bus, but only 30 minutes by car.’ Besides, he finds the public transport system unreliable. ‘I might be late for my own lectures.’ He is now considering working from home more often to save money.

Going to work by public transport takes twice as long for the PhD student as well. She suggests making the car park exclusive for staff instead. "At least that would reduce the number of students coming by car.’

One UU employee in the car park indicates that the UU strategy could work. ‘I currently work one day a week for Utrecht University, so I will probably continue to come by car. But if I were to work here three days a week, coming here from Vleuten by public transport would be a good option. Otherwise, the parking costs would add up quickly.’

Too expensive
Four euros a day means twenty euros a week for those who must be at Utrecht Science Park every day. Not everyone can afford that, as evidenced by a cleaner from Hoograven. ‘Cycling is an option for me when the weather is nice,' he says. Perhaps he will have to, as he cannot afford to lose those four euros. However, he argues that it is more convenient for him to come to work by car. 

He is not the only one objecting to the additional costs. An associate professor says: ‘I come from a single-income household. I can't afford to pay four euros extra.’ He suggests that employees should be able to park for free one day a week. ‘I almost always come by bicycle, but sometimes I just have to take the car. I can't come by bike if I have to drop my children off before work.’

The university has announced that the travel allowance is going up to partly compensate for the losses, but everyone DUB talks to stresses that this increase will not compensate for the parking costs.

Switching to P+R
One alternative is to switch to the P+R Utrecht Science Park near the motorway, where parking will “only” cost employees one euro a day. But that doesn't seem to be an option for many people either. The cleaner sums up the sentiment: 'And then I'll have to walk from there, or still pay for the tram?'

For others, such as the lecturer-researcher, the P + R could work. In fact, she would have liked to park there now, if she could. 'I don't think I can get in there at all. But if I can, then I'll leave a bike there and just cycle the last bit.'

A different opinion
Not everyone is against the new parking costs. One person out of ten welcomed the new policy, telling DUB that it is 'justified.'

‘This makes sense given the times we live in,’ says a vice-dean who normally cycles to work, but sometimes comes to campus by car on Fridays. ‘I drive an electric lease car, so I drive for free. There's always plenty of parking space on Fridays, so I like to be lazy sometimes.’

She understands why most people are negative about the measure. ‘It is very annoying if you depend on your car.’ However, she calls on her colleagues to consider the bigger picture: ‘It's not just about the individual.’ She ends the conversation with a laugh: ‘It's a shame you caught me on my lazy day.’

Meanwhile, a lively discussion is happeing on the Intranet about paid parking. Once again, there are calls for a public transport card that would allow employees to travel for free. Many still consider the mileage allowance to be too low, despite the increase from 10 to 15 cents, and train tickets are becoming more expensive. Some argue that the university is not sufficiently considering people who do not live near a station and therefore get to work faster by car than by public transport. Others say that it is cheaper to travel by car than by train. One of the comments echoed the sentiment that it is weird to pay to be able to work. However, there are also people in favour of the new policy: someone says that UU employees should be happy with the arrangements in place, despite the modest travel allowance.