Parking on campus has undergone some changes after new parking policies were passed by the Administrative Council last spring and enacted on July 1.

Carpool parking

Along with more stringent towing policies and abandoned vehicle regulations, part of a lot in front of University Center South is labeled for carpooling.

Carpooling spots are reserved for vehicles carrying three or more people.

Dennis Simon, IUS Police Chief, said there isn’t a system in place to identify cars that are actually carpooling, but police will keep an eye on the cars parked in those spots.

“Carpool areas will be enforced by on-scene observation,” Simon said. “If someone who isn’t carpooling parks there and an officer sees it, that person will be ticketed and asked to park somewhere else.”

Simon said violators will not be given a verbal warning for a first-time violation, and a ticket will be issued for the first offense.

Simon said the addition of carpool parking was a directive sought by Chancellor Sandra Patterson-Randles.

Towing

Simon said the new towing policy is more stringent and has helped to bring in payment of outstanding tickets.

Vehicles with five unpaid parking tickets will receive a tow notice, which states the vehicle will be towed if the outstanding tickets are not paid within 48 hours.

Vehicles with eight or more parking violations will be towed without any
prior notice.

Grace period

A two week grace period for parking tickets has been allotted for students who haven’t had a chance to pick up their parking permits.

Simon said the grace period is also slightly different than it has been in the past. If a vehicle without a valid parking permit parks in anywhere other than lots labeled for student parking, the vehicle will be ticketed.

“We don’t think there should be a problem finding a spot in student parking,” Simon said.

Simon said if the police department finds that no parking is available in student lots, metered spots will be included in the grace period. Otherwise, those vehicles will be ticketed.

Residence Hall Parking

According to the new parking regulations, parking around the residence halls is not limited to students who live on campus.

Anyone with a valid parking permit may park in the lots around any of the residence halls.

Shawn Hanes, bioinformatics senior and a residence hall Community Adviser, said the open parking doesn’t bother him.

“I’m OK with it,” Hanes said. “I don’t think it will be a problem. There’s still plenty of parking left [in the lots around the lodges].”

Reuben Otero, computer sciences senior and residential student, said he hoped the parking would be exclusively for residential students.

“I’m kind of disappointed,” Otero said. “I hoped they would regulate it by color coding or something.”

Otero said he had a concern about the security of students’ cars if they had to park anywhere away from the residence halls.

“Students can keep an eye on their cars if they’re parked right there,” Otero said.

Bicycles

Bicycle racks are now located in several places across campus, and bicycle registration through the police is free this semester.

“All bicycles will be registered for the protection of the campus community,” Simon said. “That way, if it gets stolen, it can be identified.”

The bicycle guidelines say when a bicycle is registered, the make, model, color and markings are recorded at the police department.

Simon said registration can also help the police if they have to impound a bicycle.

“If it’s parked somewhere it shouldn’t be, we know who to contact before we cut the chain, we know who to contact,” Simon said.

Abandoned vehicles

The new regulations define an abandoned vehicle as one that has not moved from a spot in more than two weeks. After that, a 48 hour warning will be issued on the vehicle.

Students with a valid housing permit will not be subject to abandoned vehicle regulations.

For a full document of the new parking regulations, visit www.ius.edu/universitypolice.

By JEROD CLAPP
Senior Editor
jlclapp@ius.edu