Parking Enforcement Officer Andre Triplett fills out a ticket for an illegally parked car behind the Communications Facility April 24. photo by Michael Leese THE WESTERN FRONT

“Getting ticketed always scares me," Western junior Jeff Roper said. "Waiting for that little yellow square when you know you've parked illegally is kind of terrifying.”

Western Parking Manager Julia Gassman said one of the main difficulties in handling campus parking is that students are not educated about where they are allowed to park.  She said many students are not aware that a 20-minute emergency parking permit is available for them to pick up at the Visitor’s Center free of charge.  

Without a valid permit displayed, the citation for being parked on campus is $25.  In 2007, the fines for vehicles parked illegally on campus totaled $386,839, which was approximately $56,000 dollars more than in 2006.  From 2006 to 2007, parking fines increased by 15 percent.

“The perception about parking is usually the same everywhere,” Gassman said.  “Whether it’s at Wal-mart or a

Mariners game, everyone wants to park as close as they can and pay as little as possible.”  

According to the Parking and Transportation Services Web site, the department made $172,892 in 2007.  The money they make each year, after their expenses are deducted from their revenues, is used within the department to pay for parking lot maintenance, parking signs, employee wages, equipment replacement, other operating expenses incurred by the campus parking system and a portion of it also goes into a monetary reserve to fund projects such as the Lincoln Park and Ride.

“Basically, the money goes back into the system,” Gassman said.  “We receive no state funds.”

Gassman said in the five years she has been managing parking services, countless students have visited her office to contest parking citations.

“The most difficult situation is that students often come in after we can review their tickets,” Gassman said.  “You forfeit your right to contest your ticket after seven days.”

Gassman said ticketing is done at random by parking officials but often occurs when students are parked illegally on campus for short periods of time.

“I think they're a bit overzealous,” Roper said.  “I think everyone should get one or two warnings per quarter. Sometimes you're just in a hurry and have to risk $25 to get that test or essay in on time.”

Western sophomore Alante Fields said she has gotten at least four parking tickets outside of Buchanan Towers.

“The last ticket I got was when there was a really bad snow storm,” Fields said. “I had a permit for C lot, but it was so icy and hadn’t been cleared that I parked out front of my dorm and got cited.”

The penalties are high because of the high demand for parking spaces on campus, Gassman said.  The fee is designed to deter cars from parking illegally and occupying spaces that have been paid for by permit holders, she said. A quarterly parking permit on campus costs an average of $77.  For the academic entire year, it costs $231.  Parking at meters on campus costs $1.85 per hour.

Gassman said that although it sometimes seems the lots are not full to capacity, the university sells all of its available parking permits every year.  The permits are sold in the upper lots on campus at a 1 car to 1 parking spot ratio, and in lower lots with more circulation, at 3 cars to 2 parking spots ratio.

“As far as Western’s parking system goes, it seems expensive for gravel lots,” Fields said.  “I could understand if it was parking garages, but right now I don’t see where the money is going.”

Carol Berry, Western’s sustainable transportation program manager, said an alternative to driving a car to school and parking on campus without a permit is riding the bus.  Parking is available without a permit free of charge at the Lincoln Creek Transportation Center. Since the university incorporated a mandatory bus pass fee into the tuition of all students taking six or more credits, many Western students who cannot afford parking permits take the bus to campus instead.

“The parking passes are pretty expensive,” Roper said.  “The real thing to do is use the park and ride.  You just have to know when the buses run; they take you straight to the middle of campus.”

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