The university’s latest parking policy will no longer go into effect on July 1. The new rule would have meant a citation for students, faculty or staff who back into or pull through a parking space on campus.
The university will still be able to use the new license plate reading technology, that is expected to save $100,000 according to Director of Parking and Transportation Mike Harris.
The news comes as a shock to many students, as they did not expect such a quick response from the parking department like this to occur.
The initial policy caused a stir Monday afternoon when an email was sent out stating that the university was looking into implementing LPR-License Plate Recognition software. The software would be best operated when all vehicles were facing the same direction.
The new software will be able to read the license plate of vehicles and determine if a parking permit had been purchased for a particular zone. Eventually, permits will not be needed, as the license plate will serve as the permit.
“This year we make the policies and rules to help it run efficiently and next year we implement the LPR system along with permits as we operate both systems together to make sure they all work properly, then we eliminate the permits altogether the following year,” Harris said.
Beginning in July, pulling through or backing into a parking space would have been considered a violation. The first violation would have garnered a warning. After that, a citation would have been issued for $25, increasing up to $75 for each citation.
