In an effort to curb parking payment violations at the Central Grounds Parking Garage near Newcomb Hall, the University’s Parking and Transportation department will issue $20 parking citations starting March 2 to patrons unable or unwilling to pay their hourly parking fees, department director Rebecca White said.
Patrons will only receive a warning citation, however, if the parking fee is less than $100, or if they have not received a previous citation in the past year, White said. She added that tickets that have been waived will count toward the number of citations.
The reason for the change in policy was to simplify the procedures for parking penalties, White said. Under the department’s old system, patrons were billed for their hourly fees and charged an additional parking fine. Patrons would fill out paperwork upon leaving the garage that included their personal information so they could be sent a bill at a later date, she said.
At times, this policy proved ineffective, White said. Third year College student Allison Price said she once did not have the cash to pay for a 75-cent parking fee, but she never received a bill for the incident.
“We were duplicating an administrative procedure,” White said, “We were recreating [the citation process] instead of using something we have.”
White added that she hopes this new change will simplify the fining process for those who cannot pay the parking fees they incur.
Price, though, said she believes the University should be more accommodating to students’ busy schedules, especially when it comes to parking on Grounds.
“I feel like a lot of the Parking and Transportation management take advantage of students,” Price said. “I don’t think [Parking and Transportation] takes into consideration all the things students have to do in the hours they have to do them.”
Price, who is an employee in the Student Activities Office in Newcomb, said she is frequently disappointed by what she called the University’s lack of adequate parking facilities.
“I think that if you work at Newcomb or in the vicinity, you should be able to park for free or at a reduced rate,” she said. “They just keep limiting parking.”
Third-year College student Tiffany Turner shared Price’s frustration about the change.
“I think that $20 is a little too much,” Turner said. “I know they want to get people to pay up, but that’s a little extreme.” She added that she believes the new system might be more fair if the ticket carried a $5 or $10 fine, which would be more comparable to the typical cost students owe for parking in the garage.
White, however, said the punishment fits the circumstances.
“In a way, not paying is like a violation,” she said, noting that the extra cost of the new citations is an appropriate penalty that should limit incidents.
Though Turner said she thinks that the price of the ticket seems excessive, she admitted that parking citations could be an effective means of checking student violations. She added that she would be more inclined to remember a parking citation than a letter and billing statement.
White said the Central Grounds Parking Garage will continue accepting both cash and Cavalier Advantage as a form of payment both for regular parking fees and citation charges.
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