Parking rates for the Memorial Union parking ramp have increased for the first time in six years.

The previous rates of 50 cents for the first hour and 25 cents for each additional hour are now at 75 cents and 50 cents, respectively.

The new rates went into effect May 18.

“Increased costs, wages, maintenance and costs to operate the ramp continue to rise just like the rest of the world’s prices,” said Roger Ferris, Union operations manager.

The Union’s ramp revenue goes into the ramp’s maintenance, and any excess money goes into the general operations of the Union, Ferris said.

“[The ramp] is one of the income producing areas for the Union,” he said. “The money goes into other areas of the Union that do not make any money or lose money.”

The decision to add 25 cents to the hourly parking charges was made by the Union Board of Directors.

The original proposal was to raise prices 10 cents, but the board suggested raising them to 25 cents with the extra money put into a new maintenance fund for the ramp.

The equipment in the ramp is out-of-date, and there is work that needs to be done to it, Ferris said.

“The ramp was built in 1965, and the board recognizes that,” he said.

With the increased parking rates, rather than having to scrape together funds to make repairs and upgrades, money will accumulate in the ramp fund that can be used.

The annual gross income for the ramp is about $410,000.

The Union parking ramp is open to the public and is frequently used by students and faculty. It also gets a lot of business when there are events such as large conferences, weddings and banquets.

“On a daily basis, 60 percent of the users are students,” Ferris said.

Passes are available for those who use the ramp daily. The costs for passes went up $10. They are now $195 for one semester, $395 for the school year and $100 for summer.

“[A pass] costs a bit over a dollar a day,” he said. “That’s a pretty good deal.”

Ferris said people are noting the price increase but have not been reacting angrily.

“They say things like, ‘Oh! You changed your rates!'” he said. “They just have to kind of adjust.”

One new feature in the ramp is an update in its computer system that charges only 50 cents for 30 minutes of parking, whereas before, any amount of time under an hour received the full charge for an hour.

The ramp’s grace period has also seen an increase from six minutes to eight. The grace period allows people to enter the ramp, look for a space, change their minds and leave without charge.

“That’s for no reason other than I’m a nice guy,” Ferris said.

Ferris said he has plans for the money the ramp will accumulate, including technology to get an accurate count of cars in the ramp, a better communication system and increased services for permit holders, such as a guaranteed space or a reserved space.

Ferris hopes to update their 12-year-old computer and upgrade the gates as well.

Another plan is to lower the parking costs during non-busy times at night to encourage people to park in the ramp.

“We constantly work at keeping it full,” Ferris said. No money is made when the building is empty, he said.

At this time, the ramp is busiest from 9 a.m. to noon, with cars parking an average of 3.34 hours, Ferris said.