FLEXIT Mobility Solutions Inc. officially took over the Multi-Deck Parking (MDP) Building on Nov. 16, a day after the contract between UST and private operator Selegna Holdings Inc. expired.
The new operator kept the student rate at P40 for the first four hours and P15 per hour for succeeding hours.
But it imposed a new overnight parking rate of P1,000 on top of the regular rate, significantly higher than the old base rate of P50.
Charles Isaac Deita, FlexIT chief executive officer, explained that the high overnight rate was meant to discourage outsiders from using the MDP for long-term parking.
FlexIT discovered that more than 100 of the car park’s 600 slots were occupied by outsiders who had practically turned the slots into their personal garages, said Deita, a former faculty member of UST Junior High School.
“There are outsiders within the range who park here simply because it’s cheaper. Now, the Thomasians who are supposed to benefit from the parking facility are not being served,” he told the Varsitarian.
“We need to cater to as many Thomasians as possible. We only have 600 slots. And 100-plus of these are already occupied by those non-UST users who parked their vehicles not only overnight but used the slots as their garage,” he added.
Deita said the company was aware of parking rate concerns and aimed to balance service quality with affordability.
‘No interruption’
The Varsitarian first reported on the expiration of the two-decade deal with Selegna Holdings Corp. amid ongoing rehabilitation efforts in the building.
The transition will not interrupt daily use of the facility and the new operator is expected to implement new security, payment, and traffic-flow systems, UST Facilities Management Office (FMO) director Fr. Dexter Austria, O.P. told the Varsitarian.
“We are currently cleaning the whole area, and we’ll check the overall status—including the engineering and architectural aspects—later this week,” he said.
FlexIT, a 15-year-old company, provides security and parking management services to clients in the retail, manufacturing, and property management sectors. Clients include SM Supermalls and Alfamart convenience stores.
The company plans to introduce innovations to improve daily operations, such as cashless payments and accommodations for electric vehicles, noting that these would be implemented gradually to avoid congestion at toll booths.
“We target it by phase as soon as the FMO reaches out to us about their plans,” Deita said.
Deita, who served as secretary of the UST Junior High School from 2015 to 2017, emphasized that operations would remain aligned with existing University policies.
“Kung ano man ‘yong existing protocols of the University, we will adopt it since this is part of the University,” he said, noting the importance of the MDP to Thomasians.
Food establishments will resume operations and deal with the Office of the Vice Rector of Finance.
Makati-based Selegna Holdings operated the MDP for 20 years since the structure was completed in 2005.
