The
price we pay for MU parking
Julia
Shuck
“It’s
more of a convenience issue than capacity,” said Jim
Joy, director of Parking and Transportation for MU, discussing
the current parking situation. Joy claims there is enough
parking for the 30,000 cars that go through campus a day,
it is just a matter of how far students and faculty will have
to walk or ride to get to their destination.
Commuters
have three main parking lots: Trowbridge, Hearnes and Reactor.
Many student commuters have raised the issue that there isn’t
as much parking this year as there has been in the past, mainly
calling out Trowbridge as being over crowded. Again, Joy said
that among the three lots “there is enough parking spaces,
it’s just a matter of students figuring out which one
they should go to and how early they need to arrive.”
Joy
claimed that the Reactor parking lot had anywhere from 160
to 200 empty parking spaces during the first week of class.
When asked about this situation, Communication 1200 student
and staff commuters agree that parking spaces can be found
in the Reactor lot, but it could take anywhere from 45 minutes
to an hour to get to Brady Commons by shuttle. Elizabeth Baiocchi,
MU Communication 1200 professor, had to learn this the hard
way when heading to class one day during the first week of
classes.
Prices for parking have dramatically increased over the years.
In 1984, parking passes cost a student $66.60. Current prices
for parking permits are $96 a year for commuters, $120 for
student surface lot and $144 for student parking garage. The
last price increase was in 1998, due to the construction of
the Virginia Avenue Parking Lot which raised prices $15. Prices
will once again increase in fall semester 2007, due to a new
parking garage, which will be built to accommodate lost parking
spaces due to University Hospital expansion. Prices will also
increase with the addition of a garage at Trowbridge, expected
within the next five years. Prices for parking permits have
never decreased.
During
peak hours, around 11 a.m., there could be anywhere from 10
to 15 parking enforcers on duty, and as few as two during
slower times, around 7 a.m and 8 p.m., when parking isn’t
as big an issue.
According
to MUPD Captain Brian Weimer, MUPD can issue tickets anywhere
on campus, not just the main streets which they often patrol.
He also said that MUPD “is more concerned with student
safety than issuing parking violations.”
Joy
projected that an average of 100,000 parking tickets are issued
annually. Tickets can be issued for a variety of issues with
some of the most expensive fees including $100 for illegally
parking in a handicap spot or driving 30 mph over the speed
limit and $50 for either falsifying a parking permit, parking
in a fire lane or failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
The cheapest ticket is $5, for a meter violation that is issued
and paid for within 48 hours or providing your permit number
for a ticket issued for not displaying a permit.
Having
your car towed can also be a hassle for anyone, not to mention
the $60 base price for getting your vehicle back. Anyone,
including visitors, can have their vehicles towed on their
first offense, especially if they are parked in an emergency
lane, a full lot not designated for their use, or most commonly
on game days. In the past anywhere from 300 to 400 vehicles
have been towed for this reason. Today, an average of 10-12
vehicles are towed on game days, which Joy accredits to better
communication with students through the University Webmail
system.
