Parking patrol
To avoid a collection of parking tickets, make sure to park in the correct lot, put enough money in the meters
Allan Lewis
Issue date: 8/22/08 Section: News
When walking out of Rendleman Hall or Starbucks, a handful of white parking ticket slips are usually snugly fit beneath windshield wiper blades on vehicles.
According to Parking Service's Web site, the university's Parking Service agents have issued 310,665 tickets between academic year 1998-1999 and 2006-2007.
That equals plenty of bad days for parking violators.
Director of Administrative Services Bob Vanzo said the total number of fines given last academic year is not available.
Parking Services issues tickets to make sure everyone is parking where they have paid to park with their respective color-coded permits, and to keep parking on campus as orderly as possible.
While Parking Services outlines specific parameters for students to follow to avoid becoming the next victim of a parking ticket, students often misinterpret or try to slip past the rules. Usually that strategy fails.
"The green lots by Bluff (Hall) expire at 7 p.m. so anyone can park there after that," junior business major Donny Ballard said. "I parked there at 6:55, and by 6:58 I had a ticket."
Ballard considers tickets in instances like his to be unnecessary.
"(Parking Services Agents) are just doing their job, but it seems they just hide in the bushes and wait to give out tickets," Ballard said. "It is not entirely fair to students."
A bond-model system determines the price of parking and fees which, according to Vanzo, determines what parking services needs to maintain its entities.
"We finance our parking improvements with revenue bonds and there is an amount we have to pay overhead," Vanzo said. "The bond model tells us what to charge, and it is all formula driven."
Fines are $10 for meter violations, $75 for misuse of a permit and $10 for students parking in the wrong lot, without a permit or in a no parking zone. Each subsequent parking fine in those categories will increase by $10, as a second ticket without a permit will cost $20.
According to Parking Service's Web site, the university's Parking Service agents have issued 310,665 tickets between academic year 1998-1999 and 2006-2007.
That equals plenty of bad days for parking violators.
Director of Administrative Services Bob Vanzo said the total number of fines given last academic year is not available.
Parking Services issues tickets to make sure everyone is parking where they have paid to park with their respective color-coded permits, and to keep parking on campus as orderly as possible.
While Parking Services outlines specific parameters for students to follow to avoid becoming the next victim of a parking ticket, students often misinterpret or try to slip past the rules. Usually that strategy fails.
"The green lots by Bluff (Hall) expire at 7 p.m. so anyone can park there after that," junior business major Donny Ballard said. "I parked there at 6:55, and by 6:58 I had a ticket."
Ballard considers tickets in instances like his to be unnecessary.
"(Parking Services Agents) are just doing their job, but it seems they just hide in the bushes and wait to give out tickets," Ballard said. "It is not entirely fair to students."
A bond-model system determines the price of parking and fees which, according to Vanzo, determines what parking services needs to maintain its entities.
"We finance our parking improvements with revenue bonds and there is an amount we have to pay overhead," Vanzo said. "The bond model tells us what to charge, and it is all formula driven."
Fines are $10 for meter violations, $75 for misuse of a permit and $10 for students parking in the wrong lot, without a permit or in a no parking zone. Each subsequent parking fine in those categories will increase by $10, as a second ticket without a permit will cost $20.
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