The parking lots of Tech stay crowded this semester as students prepare for more changes to the campus parking plan.
Many students feel that parking has become a hassle for commuters and on campus residents alike.
“It’s just getting old,” Mark Seals, a student in the general curriculum program said. “School has only been started for a few weeks and people are already tired of parking.”
Last semester Tech announced a rearrangement of its zoned parking system as well as an increase in parking permit costs. The new zones include gold, red, green and purple.
The gold zone is defined as “Inner Campus” and is located in the same locations at previous faculty and staff parking. This zone is primarily for employees, but select upperclassmen may be able to upgrade to this pass.
The red zone is defined as “Student Inner Campus” and is located between The Hoop and Tucker Stadium, behind Volpe Library, outside of the Millard Oakley STEM Center and the commuter lot until its closure. This zone is initially for students, but will be opened up to staff as well. A red zone parking pass will cost $77.50 per semester, or $155 for a full year.
The green zone is defined as “Students Residence Halls and Tech Village” and is located next to all dormitories on campus and includes Tech Village Apartments parking. This parking zone is only available for students residing on campus and costs the same as a red zones pass.
While these zones help better organize who can park where, it doesn’t fix the underlying problem: there are not enough parking spots. This problem has also led to an increase in the severity of consequences.
In addition to parking tickets and holds, faculty, staff and students can now be subject to towing after multiple infractions.
Multiple students have already had their cars towed for having multiple violations of the new plan according to Tech Chief of Police Tony Nelson.
“Repeated or fragrant abuse of rules and regulations can result in getting your car towed,” Officer Elizabeth Clemens said.
After three unassigned parking violations student’s cars will be subject to towing.
This policy is only enacted for the fall semester and not the full year. Chief Nelson confirmed that students have their violation record reset at the conclusion of the semester.
