From $10 to $100: Parking tickets at University of Alberta set to skyrocket
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Tickets for parking violations at the University of Alberta are about to get a whole lot more expensive for vehicle owners, with administration recommending increases to many infractions, in some cases as much as 10 times the current cost of fines.
Between 2013 and 2017 the total number of tickets issued has jumped by 34 per cent and the number of tickets issued for use of parking space without a permit in the same period has increased by 48 per cent.
That comes even though there has been no dramatic change in parking inventory or an increase in resources dedicated to enforcing parking regulations, a finance committee heard Tuesday.
In 2017, the university’s parking services unit — excluding warnings — issued 30,132 citations.
“We are seeing a year-on-year increase in people ignoring reserved parking, parking illegally, parking in fire lanes and outside emergency exits,” U of A vice-president of facilities and operations Andrew Sharman told the committee.
Sharman said over the past six years the city had twice increased rates for parking infractions but at the university, the rates have not changed in more than 15 years and were considerably lower than what the city charges for similar violations.
“We don’t like to issue citations,” Sharman said.
He added that ticketing “detracts from our staff’s job of being ambassadors” and helping people find their way around campus but that it was “becoming a real problem with people abusing our parking.”
The new penalties will in many cases match what city tickets cost.
For instance, a ticket for parking a non-motorcycle in a motorcycle zone currently results in a $10 ticket on campus, but under the new schedule that ticket would increase to $75.
Parking in a driving lane currently comes with a $15 ticket but could balloon to $100 under the proposed changes. Similarly, double parking could jump from $10 to $100.
The changes will take effect May 1, 2019 if approved next month by the board of governors.
Sharman also said the university was waiting on a court decision in Edmonton surrounding the use of wheel claps and did not rule out the possibility that, depending on the outcome of that case, the university may consider it a measure in the future.
He said that booting cars “acts as a very good deterrent.”
Monthly and annual parking rates for faculty, staff and students is also set to increase next year with a report suggesting a 2.27 per cent increase in line with the consumer price index.
In 2016 the university approved a 1.4 per cent increase but it was campus visitors who were hit hardest when the university approved an increase to parking by 9.2 per cent, a fee structure that at the time brought the university in line with market competitors.
Other proposed ticket changes include:
Improper use of space/disregarding lines
Current: $15 — Proposed: $50
Improper display of permit
Current: $5 — Proposed: $35
Overtime parking in a passenger drop-off zone
Current: $30 — Proposed: $75
Parking a large vehicle in a small vehicle zone
Current: $10 — Proposed: $75
Parking in a driving lane
Current: $15 — Proposed: $100
Double parking
Current: $10 — Proposed: $100
Parking within 15 feet of a stop or yield sign
Current: $30 — Proposed: $100
Leaving a vehicle running in a prohibited area
Current: $20 — Proposed: $100
Parking on a crosswalk, sidewalk, boulevard, landscaping
Current: $30 — Proposed: $100
Parking at a yellow curb or striped no parking area
Current: $30 — Proposed: $100
Parking in a reserved area without a valid permit displayed
Current: $50 — Proposed: $100
Unauthorized use of a commercial area
Current: $50 — Proposed: $100
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