Next year, American University's parking policy will use an independent collection company that will collect fines from parking tickets for students with outstanding accounts, but all other parking policies will remain the same.
"The days of people thinking tickets mean nothing is over," said Josh Wilson, Transportation Operations Coordinator. "Our goal is for parking to be friendly, not free"
Spring parking permits can be applied for online at any time during the semester, but are not pro-rated. A semester permit costs $416 and a full year permit costs $832. There are two types of permits: resident and commuter. Resident permits are valid in the Centennial or McDowell lots and the Nebraska lot. Commuter permits can only be used in the Nebraska lot. This fall 321 students had resident parking permits and 536 had commuter parking permits, Wilson said.
The Katzen parking garage is permit parking for faculty and staff. A parking machine like the one in the Nebraska lot has been ordered for the garage.
"People aren't aware that after 5 p.m. the campus opens [for parking] except for the Centennial and McDowell lots," Wilson said.
Mark Stern, Class of 2007 President, parked on the third floor of the parking garage for 15 minutes to unload his car for a student body event and received a $40 ticket.
"I think American University needs temporary parking places where students can park for a half hour to an hour," Stern said.
Jeremy Taylor, a senior in School of International Service, had thousands of dollars worth of parking tickets and eventually got his car booted.
"I was trying to evade them for a while," Taylor said. "I think a lot of people are in my position as they take a cost-benefit analysis in thinking they can get away without the pass"
Regarding the collection company, Taylor said that it "just made it more effective to collect money."
Taylor ended up paying his fines and is still doing the same thing without a permit.
"It's cheaper to get tickets then pay for the pass," Taylor said.
Brian Conway, a junior in SIS, has a Park Bethesda parking pass. Conway parks at Park Bethesda and when he drives to school, he parks in the Nebraska Lot.
"If I come to school after five or on the weekend I find a spot on campus," Conway said.
"Once I got a ticket for not having the expiration date on my permit visible, but they had to find the serial number of the permit, which was right next to the expiration date, to issue the ticket"
