Who else hates the parking devision?

[Trainer]

They are dicks. BWR has 2 10 minute parking spots. Trying to travel somewhere and load your vehicle means dodging the parking police. Seriously there are hundreds of students that live in that complex, not to mention the thousands that live on that block. Instead they circle the block and give you tickets as much as they can.

Also while looking for somewhere to park over the weekend there are meters that open up at 5pm. I see a DPS guy walking around and ask if I can park there, it was 4:50. His reply, sure at 5pm. Seriously?

Que some sweet, 'those are the rules' comments, but it is called doing a favor, or turning a blind eye. It is the same as a cop that doesn't knock down your ticket, or take you in for public intox even though you are walking perfectly fine on the sidewalk.

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Except that wouldnt be a problem, given the lots are near empty.

Every single day? They sure as heck weren't when I was at ISU.

Good luck with your email campaign and have a nice evening.

 

[RayShimley]

Except that wouldnt be a problem, given the lots are near empty.

Which "lots" are you referring to, specifically? The staff lot closest to my building is regularly completely full from 9am till 4:30-5 pm. It's the lot behind IEd.

 

[CyCrazy]

And the coaches, and Obama, and Clones21's mom.

You might be on to something here.

 

[michaelrr1]

This will still not convince some people that is not a conspiracy that the parking division is out to get them.

That's because they are. I had a parking pass at the stadium during the weekdays for the first 2 years there. They routinely wrote up tickets for whole rows of cars for no reason. I got one, protested it and won.

They aren't called parking nazis for no reason.

 

[CapnCy]

A couple additional thoughts...
-Flip this argument to tickets at a sporting event. Again, you pay for what is available or not available, if it isn't general admission, you can't sit in the seat.
-I understand the frustrations for folks when they are ticketed in a somewhat empty lot...but believe me, if they don't enforce rules, the people will create their own rules. "I always just park out at xx lot, they never ticket there." Before you know it, the lot is full of illegals.
-At the last university I worked at, a friend of mine was in charge of the parking enforcers and I'll tell you, the public were much more rude to them they they were to folks parked illegally. They were all students making the same amount of money they'd get cleaning dishes at the dining center.
-Yes, I'm sure occasionally an employee is a bit over the top (ticketing if you are parked on a line in an empty lot, etc).

I've worked at universities for over 10 years now...parking and dining center food seem to always get the brunt of criticism, but most times both are pretty fair/decent.

All things considered, ISU is VERY fortunate for the lots they have and CyRide. Yes, it may stink parking at the stadium, but many schools freshman can't bring a car.....or parking spots in general lots are outrageous. I worked at Kansas State and talk about a mess....off campus students were basically screwed, you walked or tried to find a side street to park...no commuter lot....no bus.

 

[CyBer]

I've only gotten a ticket or two in the 5 years I've been here, but one was 5 minutes before 5:30 in the design lot (all the spots were open). And it was 30 dollars, I was pretty ****** because I have huge things to print and need to transport them via car otherwise the wind would ruin it.

 

[RING4CY]

Don't park illegally? Boom, mind blown.

Whoa man, you are out there!

I have only received one ticket from the DPS. I parked my car in parking row one night across from Oak Elm after a night out with friends. It was a parking spot that didn't need a permit after 5 p.m. I walked back to my dorm (Buchanan Hall) completely forgetting where I had parked my car. Good thing I remembered it the next day, otherwise it would have been towed.

 

[gwoodclone]

I've only had one ticket. At around 7:30 at night I parked in a reserved lot that was literally completely empty to run to the building across the street to pick something up. Got back to my car less than 5 minutes later, and I had a ticket. The person who ticketed me was nowhere to be seen.

It's things like that that irritate me. Why was this lot that nobody was using reserved at 7:30 PM? Why are you spending money to pay somebody to lurk around and ticket lots that are empty at 7:30 PM? I know I was parking illegally and taking that risk, but one would think the university could come up with a more efficient, driver-friendly system for reserving designating where people can and cannot park.

 

[MissouriCyclone]

I love the fact that we just payed for State Gym and there is no parking there. Accidently parked in a spot where I was supposed to have a permit all day/every day. Luckily I didn't get a ticket. I also like the fact it takes 2 people to drive around and write tickets. You know, since it's such a hard job.

 

[Clonefan94]

Don't park illegally? Boom, mind blown.

Ha ha, best one ever! And so true. I used to work for the parking division and I'll admit, we had some ******** working for us. I was definitely one of the mild mannered people. I worked evenings on campus and really, if you get a ticket on campus after 4 pm, you deserved it.

That being said, I almost got fired for ticketing Gov. Branstad's car in the '90s. his driver parked him in a spot at the Union, right outside the MShop that was metered. I wouldn't take it back. I told my boss. IOWA 1 can park any where he damn well pleases, to take up a spot and a half of metered parking that students need is BS, if he has a problem with that, I'll meet with him and discuss it. I assume they just voided the ticket without my signature, but seriously, think before you park.

 

[SenorCy]

Whoa man, you are out there!

I have only received one ticket from the DPS. I parked my car in parking row one night across from Oak Elm after a night out with friends. It was a parking spot that didn't need a permit after 5 p.m. I walked back to my dorm (Buchanan Hall) completely forgetting where I had parked my car. Good thing I remembered it the next day, otherwise it would have been towed.

No, they just would have kept giving you tickets until you move it. I accidently parked one row over from where I was supposed to at MWL and didn't realize it. I didn't think about it since I didn't need to drive anywhere and wound up with three tickets.

 

[MLawrence]

Geez, at Loras we pay $75 for a parking pass for the whole year and tickets start at $10.

 

[ZachsterPoke]

My one complaint with parking is over by MWL near Seasons. I have PT at 6 AM 4 days a week, and when I get done at 7:15, I would like to go over to get breakfast.

Considering MWL is nowhere near classes (with many a faculty lot available between MWL and central campus), all morning Seasons employees should already be there (since they open at 6:45), and the entire staff lot is practically empty right there (closes for permit-only at 7:30?), why do I continually get tickets for parking dead center in the middle of the empty staff lot?

I realize you have to have limits, but this one is ridiculous. If the staff isn't even going to use this lot (and usually isn't used throughout the entire day until it's open for everyone), at least scale back the hours so people like myself can actually utilize Seasons. All it's doing right now is keeping me from eating on-campus, which I know the university would like to change.

 

[longtimeclone]

That being said, I almost got fired for ticketing Gov. Branstad's car in the '90s. his driver parked him in a spot at the Union, right outside the MShop that was metered. I wouldn't take it back. I told my boss. IOWA 1 can park any where he damn well pleases, to take up a spot and a half of metered parking that students need is BS, if he has a problem with that, I'll meet with him and discuss it. I assume they just voided the ticket without my signature, but seriously, think before you park.

I was helping cleaning out state gym and I had a truckload of stuff to bring back to Beyer. DPS was blocking off the NE parking lot of Beyer which was the easiest door to drop of my load. I think it was something to do with Grassley being in campus and they were not allowing people to park in this part of the lot for security reasons. I argued for 10 minutes because we would just drop off our stuff then move. I don't think I have ever been so mad at DPS.

 

[JP4CY]

Geez, at Loras we pay $75 for a parking pass for the whole year and tickets start at $10.

Yes, but if you aren't on a scholarship, you get to pay 3-4 times tuition.
In all seriousness, the student demand at Loras is probably lower, since a lot more people live on campus, and probably don't have/need a car.
Also, make sure you put your parking brake on in those campus streets!

 

[CYLIGHT]

Or park in the commuter lot, that never gets full. Whoa what a concept.

I have never had a problem finding parking but I am also willing to plan, park and walk a bit. There is plenty of parking at ISU.

 

[MLawrence]

In all seriousness, the student demand at Loras is probably lower, since a lot more people live on campus, and probably don't have/need a car.
Also, make sure you put your parking brake on in those campus streets!

I agree on all accounts. Even we ***** about parking tickets, which is terrible since we can walk to class and it's within a mile, and not to mention the farthest that would possibly walk to our parked cars is about quarter of a mile away. Also, you should see how narrow the streets get with piles of snow on each side.

 

[Clonefan94]

I was helping cleaning out state gym and I had a truckload of stuff to bring back to Beyer. DPS was blocking off the NE parking lot of Beyer which was the easiest door to drop of my load. I think it was something to do with Grassley being in campus and they were not allowing people to park in this part of the lot for security reasons. I argued for 10 minutes because we would just drop off our stuff then move. I don't think I have ever been so mad at DPS.

I don't know how things work there now, it's been almost 20 years since I worked there, but you were obviously dealing with ********. If you came up to me nicely, said you just had to run in and grab something, I would never bat an eye. It usually took me 1/2 an hour to do my round and if you were still there when I got back, then you'd get a ticket. But, I said that, "if you are here when I get back, ticket."

It goes both ways, sure, there are ******** that work for DPS, with 25,000 students, you can't imaging the ******** I would have to put up with in one night. And again, this was on campus, which was pretty much open after 4pm when I worked it. People are lazy, why walk 100 ft and not worry about a ticket when I could just go ahead and park illegally and only have to walk 5 feet. I'll just call DPS ********.

Then again, I worked with a guy who would come back to 15 minute loading zones and ticket people every 15 minutes. He wrote one guy 10 tickets one night. So yeah, it takes two to tango. If we ever meet in real life, ask my wife how hard I worked at writing people tickets and she'll laugh. She still makes fun of me 20 years later on how lax I was. (We met on the job btw) And I still wrote over 40 tickets a night on campus. People are dumb.

 

[FDWxMan]

No, they just would have kept giving you tickets until you move it. I accidently parked one row over from where I was supposed to at MWL and didn't realize it. I didn't think about it since I didn't need to drive anywhere and wound up with three tickets.

You're lucky, you get 3 and then you get towed.

My buddy/roommate when I was a freshman living in BWR parked over the weekend in those lots over by Forker. His parking pass was for Jack Trice, but on the weekend that lot is opened and we used it to get around on the weekend.

Well after a party Saturday night, he was recovering on Sunday, and forgot that he brought his car on campus. Didn't remember until Thursday afternoon, and when we went to get it is was gone.

Picked it up from impound, he had to pay like $90 bucks or something for that, plus the three tickets that had accumulated before towing.