Danielle Truitt is frustrated with parking services. As a

senior, she has paid for parking on campus for two years, and each

year she has been unhappy with struggling to find a parking

space.

Danielle Truitt is frustrated with parking services. As a senior, she has paid for parking on campus for two years, and each year she has been unhappy with struggling to find a parking space.

“I pay for a parking pass, but I can’t park everywhere on campus because of so many reserved spots,” she said.

N.C. A&T is a growing campus and parking has become a concern among students.

This year, there are roughly 3,500 parking spaces available for students according to parking services. Out of that, only 16 percent of the spaces on campus are reserved. That number is roughly the same for all schools within the UNC-system.

“We have ample spaces for registered vehicles,” said Jacob Teagle, interim director for parking transportation. “The problem is that we have so many unregister vehicles on campus.”

Last year A&T gave out more than 8,000 unregistered vehicle tickets.

“Unregistered vehicleS are unsafe for the campus,” according to Teagle. “Eventually if your car is unregistered you will be towed immediately.”

Despite the threat of being ticketed, a large number of students continue to park unregistered.

Kelcey Fair, a sophomore public relations major, said her reason for not having a parking pass is, “it costs way too much. It’s cheaper to just get tickets.”

For students who live both on campus as well as commute, they must pay $227 to park on campus for the year. Students without parking passes must pay $25 per ticket received. If three tickets are received, they are likely to receive a boot on their vehicle. It costs $40 to remove this boot, and a student has the option to appeal the boot.

Across town at UNCG, students who live on campus as well as commute pay $302 a year to park their vehicle. That is $75 more than A&T students.

At Winston Salem State Uniersity, both resident and commuter students pay $140.

There was no explanation as to why the prices for parking permits have been set to what they are; the prices in place have been set for some time now. According to Teagle, eventually the prices for many of the university’s parking services will be reviewed.

Students also have the option to park in the new parking deck. If a student wants to add the parking deck to their pass they have to pay $392 for the year. If they just want to park in the deck, they must pay $103 for the year.

The price of the parking deck has to be paid for by the university community. There is a price structure for the deck that A&T has very little, to no, control of.

“The parking deck belongs to the university, but we still need the money to pay for it,” said Teagle.

However, when speaking about the parking deck, Teagle gave some upside by saying, “We are talking about opening up the parking deck for all registered vehicles during finals in the very near future.”

In addition to having price issues, many of the students feel that it is a waste of money to purchase a ticket due to the fact that it does not guarantee a quality spot. Yet many students do not know that a permit does not provide a spot. A parking permit simply provides the owner permission to park on campus.

“If people are willing to walk, then people will be able to find a spot,” said Teagle. “Shuttle services and parking go hand and hand. If the campus is willing to become more pedestrian like then many students and faculty will not have a problem with finding a spot on campus.”

Fair said she that the best way to fix parking is “to lower prices. If they do people would be more apt to buy parking passes.”

For students who want to give feedback to parking services, you can do so by emailing [email protected]. Also, be on the lookout for a Facebook account for Parking Services coming in the near future.

[email protected] and [email protected] and follow us on Twitter @ATRegister

• Trumaine McCaskill & DaShawn Fleming, The A&T Register