 |
| Sign to event parking at The University of Texas at Tyler. (Source: James Hescock) |
Over Christmas Break, I decided to look into the parking issue on-campus, starting with enforcement. I obtained the record of all parking citations for fall 2023 by a public information act request. Here is what I found.
At UT-Tyler, parking enforcement issued 380 parking citations over the fall 2023 semester.
It issued 152 citations for Parking Without A Valid Permit, 59 for Improper Space/Over Line and 48 for Parking In Area Not Designated (meaning, residential students parking on-campus). Overall, these were the top three violations and they made up 40%, 15% and 13% of all violations respectively.
The parking department also received approximately 30 appeals from students, faculty and staff, according to a separate information request. Yet, on Nov. 14, Parking Appeals Committee Chair Ronald Carnes III, told student government that his committee receives roughly 30 to 40 appeals per month. This places the total number of appeals around 105. So, the correct number of appeals is unverified, but what Carnes did tell student government was he ‘‘generally [denies] them all.’’
From the 152 citations, parking enforcement garnered roughly $18,000 in citation revenue in fall 2023. This is according to my calculations based on the number of citations and the citation fee schedule in UT-Tyler’s 2023-24 Traffic, Parking and Safety Regulations.
The questions that arise from this data are:
- Is parking enforcement patrolling daily?
- What is parking enforcement doing to deter residential students from parking in commuter spaces and why are these efforts apparently ineffective?
- Why is parking/the University building new parking lots when it seems it does not have proper control over its current supply of parking spaces?
Let’s examine each one.
Daily Patrols
University communications told me on Dec. 13 that officials patrol the campus parking lots daily from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. . However, parking data from the public information request seems to contradict this.
For example, in the week of Sept. 11, parking enforcement issued only three citations, according to the record of fall 2023 citations I received. In the following week, it issued 55 citations, but only from Tues through Thurs. (Meaning, it did not issue citations on Mon or Fri.)
Both the fluctuations in parking enforcement’s daily citation numbers and the number of days when parking enforcement issued no citations at all suggest that officials are not in fact patrolling daily.
This is significant because without consistent enforcement, then a violator could feel that he can park ''illegally'', escape the consequences and therefore, continue to take up available parking spaces.
University communications told me on Jan. 11 that the University stands by its information that parking officials patrol from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Residential Students
What is parking enforcement doing to deter residential students from parking in commuter spaces? The university did not respond to a request for comment by the time of this article’s publication. So, other than ticketing, I don’t know.
Why New Lots?
I have attempted to collect information about the price of the new parking lot construction by Ritter Tower in preparation for questions about why the university plans to pay for additional parking when it does not appear it can effectively protect its current supply of parking lots.
The University’s public information officer replied that no records of costs or company proposals are yet available as the construction project is still in its developmental phases. So, I have no information here, yet either.
Citation Fee Amount
However, one possible explanation for why parking enforcement efforts on residential students have been unsuccessful is not only the apparent lack of daily enforcement, but perhaps also the current price of the parking citation. According to university parking regulations, for parking without a permit, parking over the line, or parking in an undesignated area (residential students), the citation fee is $35. When the parking permit costs $90, then theoretically, a violator could receive up to three citations before he finally pays a similar amount to the permit cost.
Comparatively, the citation fee to park in a reserved space, such as those spots reserved for deans and department chairs who purchase them, is $50.
Since on-campus spaces are dedicated to commuting permit holders, then should the parking enforcement department also fine residential students $50 for parking in a space technically ‘‘reserved’’ for commuters? Perhaps this will deter potential violators more effectively.
Student Leader Comment
Student Body President Chloe Dix did not respond to a request for comment about this data by the time of this publication. The request also included an inquiry about why student government did not take a formal position on students’ parking experience last semester.
Student government senators David Templeton of Health Sciences, Allison Schwartz of Honors College and Kyna Holman of Education and Psychology also did not respond to requests for comment.
Conclusions
It appears to me that in order for students’ parking experiences to improve, parking enforcement officers must patrol the parking lots from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (if they are not already doing so), must re-warn residential students not to park on-campus and must raise the parking fine for doing so to $50 to show that the department is serious and, finally, that parking enforcement must re-institute the volunteer faculty and staff parking shuttle in the first two weeks of spring classes for students to have extra space to park while they get used to their new schedules.
It also appears to me that the University must first effectively manage its current parking lots before it constructs new ones. Otherwise, violators will consume the supply of new spaces, also.
Finally, students must have a vocal advocate for specific parking improvement measures in student government. This advocacy means the assembly must pass formal statements that express to the university students’ expectations with regard to parking.
Without these steps, students’ parking woes are likely to continue.
X: @Jhescock12
Great topic. Some of the items you discuss may need more information. First just because there are no/few citations on certain days does not mean they are not patrolling. I personally have recieved a warning for parking in a "non"parking space on a Monday. Not sure if they report warnings. Another reason may be that at certain times during each semester there are more people on campus than students and faculty. On these very busy days there is NO PARKING ANYWHERE!! Hence more last ditch parking decisions on those days. Again, personal experience. If you are trying to park in limited spaces near new nursing building because of construction taking out quite a few spaces for 6 months now and a year going forward at least, or any time there is an event at Cowan Center, or If High Schools are touring, or if there is a Sports event, then you might have more ticketing because of a severe lack of parking space. We get advanced notifications usually that these events are occurring. We also get notices each semester about non commuters parking in commuter parking. So I think they are doing more than you give them credit for.
ReplyDeleteHi CB, thanks for your comment!
ReplyDeleteTo test your theory, I have requested a record of all warnings issued for fall 2023, also. The University will redact student names, but we'll see how much this data fills in the picture. Thank you for suggesting a further look into this variable.
My view is that permit holders have a right to access the University's available parking space supply before other parties. I understand that the parking department may be doing more than issuing citations, but given that permit holders pay for the parking lots' maintenance and construction through their parking permits, and given that UT-Tyler states the reason for a permit at all is because it will prohibit non-permit holders from parking in its lots without a permit it, then I feel permit holders deserve the University's first priority.
Thanks again for reading and for the comment!