How to Avoid Parking Tickets on Campus

By Sam Casteris on May 31, 2018

 

It doesn’t take long to realize parking tickets are needlessly expensive and written quite liberally on campus. Beyond the tickets, there are late fees and even more dire consequences: if you don’t pay up, many schools will withhold your transcripts and prevent you from signing up for classes or walking at graduation in addition to towing or placing a boot on your car.

After years of hard work and a heaping chunk of savings (ha, if this is you, way to go), you finally arrive on campus eager to dive into classes and new experiences. But before you crack open your books and dive into Welcome Week, say hello to one of the greatest frustrations of your next four years: the endless battle for parking. Without a doubt, one of the most annoying parts of college life, endlessly circling campus for a parking spot is a daily headache that can escalate quickly. And the battle isn’t over once you find a spot: there’s nothing worse than leaving class at the end of a long day and seeing a green envelope waiting on your dashboard.

via Wikimedia Commons

One intrepid undergraduate student in Houston, TJ Azodeh, found what he considered to be an ingenious life hack: placing an old ticket on his windshield so parking attendants would think his car was already ticketed. Attendants can double-ticket your car, but Azodeh found that more often than not the fake ticket allowed him to get away with illegal parking scot-free. While we don’t think this is a great daily solution, it goes to show that where there’s a will, there’s a way, but not all of us can be as lucky as Azodeh.

You can always bite the bullet and spend a couple hundred dollars a semester on a parking pass. But what should you do if you can’t afford the pass or you’re running late and the lots are all full? It’s time to get creative, and we are here with a few ideas on how to keep parking tickets from ruining your day:

Plan Ahead and Explore Parking Restrictions and Tools at Your School

Use the resources on your campus to avoid parking tickets. Sometimes it feels like colleges exist solely to collect tuition and parking fees, but they really do have your best interests at heart. Most have a dedicated section of their website which explains parking restrictions, appeals and other information to help you navigate around campus.

Some schools even have online tools that will tell you which parking lots are full, so be sure to have those handy if available. Be sure if you buy your permit that it is displayed correctly too. And if you go to a school where sports or events cause a lot of traffic and changes in how permits apply to different lots, be sure to keep those schedules in mind and plan ahead.

Don’t Drive Unless You Absolutely Have To

If you live close enough to campus to walk or bike, it will be infinitely easier to do so. But say it is raining or you have a giant art project to turn in: other options include Uber, Lyft, Zipcars and other ride-sharing services. If you have a longer commute, consider finding other students to carpool with and split the parking pass, that way you at least aren’t paying full price, and you aren’t paying hundreds of dollars in parking ticket fees.

Many schools also provide subsidized public transportation access like free bus or subway passes, so be sure to explore all of the options your school provides before paying for a pass on your own. Some campuses also have bikes, scooters and other small forms of transportation that you can rent which are great in a pinch getting from one side of campus to the other.

Drive a Compact Car or Scooter

The smaller your car, the less space you will need to park. Simple, right? Leave your SUV at home and grab the sedan when you’re headed to class, that way you can make the best of every tight squeeze. One step better, a motorcycle or scooter can park just about anywhere. Plus you get great gas mileage too!

Grab an Hourly Spot and Move Your Car Between Classes

If you find a spot that works but won’t cover your full day, set an alarm on your phone to go back and move your car. Be mindful of how far you need to move your car between spots – sometimes pulling up a few feet and buying another few hours on the meter isn’t enough.

If a sign says that there are certain time limits or restrictions on a space, assume that the parking attendant will walk up the second your time expires and slap a ticket on your car. Rest assured that they’ve heard every excuse in the book, so it’s not a great idea to rely on talking your way out of tickets.

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