North Texas Daily

A new UNT parking citation policy, which is currently in effect, gives students with three or more unpaid parking tickets a warning sticker and a 48-hour grace period to pay overdue fees before their cars are impounded.

A campus-wide email sent out by UNT Transportation Services said the policy adjustment targets those with multiple violations to ensure students park in the correct campus lots.

Trista Moxley, UNT senior communications specialist of transportation, said the new changes reflect Transportation Services’ goal of greater communication with students.

“We’ve been steadily moving to a system where the focus has been on communicating with the students as much as possible to give them every opportunity to deal with their citations,” Moxley said. “The warning stickers add another layer to the communication and another opportunity for students to come in and take care of their accounts.”

Stickers placed on the driver’s side windows of cars will contain information including the UNT Transportation Services address and phone number, as well as a reminder that fees must be paid within 48 hours. Students facing late ticket payments or impounding are encouraged to set up an appointment with Transportation Services to resolve the issue.

When a student receives a citation, Transportation Services sends a notification letter to the student’s physical address, in addition to an email. If the citation fees are not paid immediately, the department sends additional fee notifications after 15 days and then 45 days without payment.

Social work senior Katy Andrews said she thought the previous policy lacked proper communication and consistency.

“This past spring, I got a ticket on the first week of school because I parked in a spot [where] I noticed the lines were faded,” Andrews said. “I was ticketed for not parking in an actual spot and planned on not paying the ticket. I never received anything from UNT saying I needed to pay it. Why would I not receive any kind of warning or notice?”

Between Sept. 1, 2017, and Aug. 31, 2018, Transportation Services recorded that 303 cars were towed and 449 cars received parking boots on campus lots. A majority of towing incidents occurred in stadium parking around the time of football games, when the athletic department and Transportation Services worked together to organize parking enforcement.

Marketing freshman Wayde Baccus said the enforcement of parking lot rules sometimes seems too harsh on students, especially those who do not live on campus.

“I don’t think UNT should impound cars, especially considering the fact that most students here rely on their cars because they’re commuters,” Baccus said. “The entire parking policy is flawed because UNT gives tickets to people parking on the wrong floor of the parking garage when people pay $650 for the parking pass. They already don’t have enough parking for everyone here in the first place.”

For more information about the new policy, contact UNT Transportation Services.

Featured Image: Students with three outstanding parking citations are subject to the change in policy that allows UNT to have their car impounded if they do not pay their citations within 48 hours of notice. Jordan Collard