Who else hates the parking devision?

[FDWxMan]

They pay for it.


I pay for my spot and am glad I can come and go as I please and be guaranteed a spot until 5pm.

But is every spot in these 24/7 reserved lots spoken for? Honest question, don't know.

It does seem like the efficiency of ISU parking is lacking. Of course, this is probably by design to generate revenue.



I will agree though, with whoever brought up the fact that there are two (2!) loading spots for all of the BWR/Oak-Elm square. Ridiculous. Especially when you consider they enforce and ticket it on move-in days.

Are we really supposed to take turns, two at a time, with that whole student population to move in and out of dorms/pack for break? Just let us pull over and park and get loaded up.

 

[longtimeclone]

Yeah I was trying to be nice to her but I thought it was pretty obvious what I was trying to do. I was actually working for the university and moving furniture in an ISU vehicle.

Most of my dealings I had with DPS were pretty good as most of the people were pretty reasonable. It also helped when I would challenge tickets I was successful in getting them dropped.

I also had a motorcycle on campus with a valid parking pass. I think the pass only cost $90 a year and I could park about anywhere.

 

[IcSyU]

I've gotten a few tickets and they were all my fault, not Iowa State's. Don't park where it says not to park. Empty lot or not doesn't matter. Can you run a stop sign when there's no one else around? Speed on an unoccupied road? Parking is fine at Iowa State. Commuter lot plus orange route has you anywhere on campus in 15 minutes.

 

[Cyclones01]

I DO!

 

[Goothrey]

I've gotten a few tickets and they were all my fault, not Iowa State's. Don't park where it says not to park. Empty lot or not doesn't matter. Can you run a stop sign when there's no one else around? Speed on an unoccupied road? Parking is fine at Iowa State. Commuter lot plus orange route has you anywhere on campus in 15 minutes.

That is a very misguided comparison.

Can anybody verify a rumor I've heard about them charging for parking in the commuter lot sometime in the future?

 

[MissouriCyclone]

That is a very misguided comparison.

Can anybody verify a rumor I've heard about them charging for parking in the commuter lot sometime in the future?

It was in the paper a couple months ago that they were going to, but not sure where it went from there. It wouldn't surprise me in the least bit though....

 

[IowaStateClones]

People who don't like the parking division are ones who want better parking options close to campus. I am one of these people. What is frustrating is is having a 50 minute class and having to worry about a 15 minute bus ride there and back. We want something where we can get some short term temporary parking that wont cost an arm and a leg.

 

[Agkistrodon]

The only time I got a ticket was for parking in that parking deck on the east side of campus near the Food Science building over spring break. I parked there all day on Monday and Tuesday without incident, but for some reason I got ticketed on Wednesday. There were maybe 3 or 4 other cars in the lot.

I also used to complain more about ISU's parking until I went to the University of Illinois for a few years, which put a few things in perspective. They charge for their commuter lot (which, like ISU, never comes close to filling up), and fines for not having a permit are $50/ticket.

 

[IcSyU]

That is a very misguided comparison.

Can anybody verify a rumor I've heard about them charging for parking in the commuter lot sometime in the future?

Can you get upper level tickets and just plop into the parquet in Hilton because someone didn't show up to the game?

And they should charge a fee for the commuter lot...even if a permit was only $50/semester. They lose money like crazy on keeping the parking lots updated because the commuter lot brings in no revenue but gets a ton of traffic.

Here's the solution for everyone's parking mess: Either choose to live close to campus so you can walk, manage your time and use the commuter lot, or pay to park in the MU/at Gerdin/Lied/Armory/etc. There isn't a parking problem. There's a "lazy" problem. The price of tickets isn't a problem at all. Don't park illegally and you don't have to worry.

 

[chuckd4735]

We did a study back in college of available of free or by the hour parking spaces available at every state university in Iowa and the surrounding states. ISU blew every other university away in the amount of available space, it was somewhat shocking to me. ISU also has one of the best public transportation systems in the Midwest. 90% of the people who get caught parking illegally knew they were taking that risk the second they parked, so its really hard to feel sorry for any of you...you really have no excuses.

 

[Senolcyc]

I was always amazed by how they were everywhere. I didn't park illegally very much, usually just when I missed the bus and was scrambling to get to class, something like that. Got a ticket every time. They never missed me. Must have had 1,000 meter maids on duty.

 

[kcdc4isu]

Don't park illegally? Boom, mind blown.

The answer to the question, obey the laws and you do not get a ticket, be an *** and you get a ticket. Anyone with a college education should be able to understand that.

 

[Skyh13]

I think I only ever got 2 or 3 tickets.

At least one of them was completely justified, but one of them really ****** me off.. I had paid at a meter near Stomping Grounds and walked to a lesson at Music Hall. I paid for enough time, and when I returned to my car, a couple minutes after the meter had expired, I already had a ticket.

That either meant one of two things -- either, a DPS guy was just sitting next to my car, waiting for the meter to expire, or, he wrote the ticket before it expired. Either way, **** move.

I agree when people say, follow the parking rules, but there's definitely too much evidence of some DPS employees being *****.

 

[IcSyU]

I think I only ever got 2 or 3 tickets.

At least one of them was completely justified, but one of them really ****** me off.. I had paid at a meter near Stomping Grounds and walked to a lesson at Music Hall. I paid for enough time, and when I returned to my car, a couple minutes after the meter had expired, I already had a ticket.

That either meant one of two things -- either, a DPS guy was just sitting next to my car, waiting for the meter to expire, or, he wrote the ticket before it expired. Either way, **** move.

I agree when people say, follow the parking rules, but there's definitely too much evidence of some DPS employees being *****.

Or the DPS person walked by with 3 minutes left and when they walked back to the truck it was expired and they wrote the ticket. They aren't going to sit around and look and see if someone sprints up to the vehicle when they get ready to write the ticket.

Only in positions where the offending parties were at fault most of the time does it seem like people have issues with DPS. You admitted above the meter was expired. Whether it was 3 seconds, 3 minutes, or 3 hours expired, it was expired and therefore illegally parked. It isn't DPS' fault the vehicles are illegally parked and it's some kid doing their job to ticket them.

 

[CapnCy]

I think I only ever got 2 or 3 tickets.

At least one of them was completely justified, but one of them really ****** me off.. I had paid at a meter near Stomping Grounds and walked to a lesson at Music Hall. I paid for enough time, and when I returned to my car, a couple minutes after the meter had expired, I already had a ticket.

That either meant one of two things -- either, a DPS guy was just sitting next to my car, waiting for the meter to expire, or, he wrote the ticket before it expired. Either way, **** move.

I agree when people say, follow the parking rules, but there's definitely too much evidence of some DPS employees being *****.

If you parked near Stomping Grounds, wasn't that a City of Ames violation, not ISU?

 

[CapnCy]

People who don't like the parking division are ones who want better parking options close to campus. I am one of these people. What is frustrating is is having a 50 minute class and having to worry about a 15 minute bus ride there and back. We want something where we can get some short term temporary parking that wont cost an arm and a leg.

They do have a couple of these options...the lot at the MU is by the hour, the lot next to the Armory, and the pay by the stall parking deck on the east side. These would get most folks within a 5-10 minute walk. I think for that amount of time, the Union would be about $2-3. Again, assuming that's a 3 day a week class, 16 week semester, about $144 a semester.

If they had too many cheap/short term options, supply/demand would make them all full and there is only so much real estate.

 

[cstrunk]

I had some friends that lived in Freddy and I drove out there one night (I'm pretty sure it was a Holiday because everyone was gone and the parking lots were empty, except for the few public parking spots of course) to borrow a book. I parked out in the middle of nowhere and went inside for 10 minutes and came back out. Yep, you guessed it. Ticketed. I protested it but it was denied, of course.

When lots are full, I fully understand the need for parking tickets. But in these situations? DPS will nail you faster than you can bat an eye. And it's ludicrous.

 

[CapnCy]

It was in the paper a couple months ago that they were going to, but not sure where it went from there. It wouldn't surprise me in the least bit though....

It is being discussed....and I think for legit reasons. The lot is split between Athletics and the University. There are expenses (upkeep, snow removal, etc) which need to be covered as well as Cy Ride's orange route. Cy Ride has had some financial issues for various reasons. Students are already subsidizing Cy Ride, but still not enough.

I know when I started at ISU, the fee to ride the bus for a student was like $.50 or you could buy a pass (not sure how much student fees goes to CyRide, but that could be about a wash amount). I think it would be fair to maybe charge $.25 from the commuter lot to take the loop through campus, but not back tot he lot. I believe I heard there are 1600 users a day at the commuter lot. Another option would be a commuter pass.

 

[clintr]

Don't park illegally? Boom, mind blown.

Boom, don't drive a car?

 

[WhatchaGonnaDo]

*division