On July 20, Danielle Jones walked out of Brody Hall after her internship meeting for the Summer Research Opportunities Program at Michigan State University. As she made her way to her car, she could see a small paper underneath her windshield wiper. This paper was Jones’s seventh parking ticket of the year. Jones said that she wasn’t worried about paying off the ticket until she saw that the price had gone up.
“This a shame. I thought it was going to be $25 like the last time,” said Jones, off campus resident at MSU.
On July 17, MSU increased the cost of parking ticket violations. According to MSU parking services, metered parking violations went from $15 to $20, disabled parking violations went from $100 to $115 and reserved area violations went from $25 to $40.
According to the MSU’s Board of Trustees, the most common violations are reserved parking violations and metered parking violations.
Dana Whyte, communications manager for the Department of Police and Public Safety, said that the money from these violations is being used for safety items around campus. These include lot signage, lot repairs, ramp repairs, and traffic lights.
The price of parking ticket violations have increased, but the number of lots that allow students to avoid getting ticketed has not.
Lot 89 is only one general parking lot for on campus and off campus students that is available to first year students and students who have at least 28 credits, according to Parking Services. Lots 91, 15, 65, and 83 are only available to on campus students.
Lot 91 is available to students who live in residence halls in East, Rivertrail, and North neighborhood. Lot 15 and Lot 65 are available to students who live in North and Brody neighborhoods. And Lot 83 is available to students who live in South neighborhood.
The remaining lots availability consist of students who live in specific on-campus apartments and students who are a part of specific colleges at MSU.
“I believe that the only lot available to me is Lot 89, and that’s a lot that’s like almost off campus,” Jones said.
According to MSU Today, Michigan State University is one of the biggest campuses in the nation, with an enrollment of 51,000 students this fall semester.
“I have difficulty almost every day trying to find somewhere to park near classes,” Jones said.
On a scale from one to 10, with 10being extremely difficult, Jones said she would give the difficulty an eight.
Delano Jackson Jr., a third year advertising management student at MSU, said that he just purchased his car over the summer and has received three parking tickets over a one week period. Jackson said knowing that he can not park close to his classes and on-campus job creates him to have anxiety while in those spaces.
“Instead of me having the security of knowing I can park by my job, I have to park somewhere else and have the fear of what if somebody breaks into my car and steals my items or the car itself,” Jackson said.