Managing an Orderly Use of Parking Areas

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Parking enforcement helps prevent problems among motorists.

It isn't always easy being a parking controller at the University of Arkansas, but the job of issuing parking citations is crucial to keeping everything orderly in the parking areas.

Andy Gilbride is an assistant business manager at the university in charge of parking enforcement and special events, and he said that the parking areas are monitored simply to make sure that the people who actually paid for parking will have access to it.

Sometimes a person will confront a parking enforcement employee who is writing a citation, but he or she is simply doing the job.

"They would rather issue a warning more than anything," Gilbride said. "They would rather educate a person about parking rather than give them a ticket."

Parking controllers can and do issue warnings on a first offense, unless it is an infraction that will not allow it.

Gilbride said that each controller goes through two to three weeks of training with a senior controller so they will know exactly how to handle each parking situation or violation.

And because the job can be difficult, more employees are needed. Transit and Parking has 14 people working as parking controllers at this time.

"We are always looking to hire good people," Gilbride said.

Transit and Parking has helped maintain organization on campus for decades. (One recent feature article told of a U of A grad who issued citations back in the 1980s).

Over the years, some individuals on campus have leveled a great deal of criticism towards Transit and Parking, quite simply, because no one really wants to get a parking citation.

But Gilbride pointed out that most people at the university never get cited for parking violations.

About 10-20 percent of all students, faculty or staff will get a parking citation (and some get cited multiple times) but at least 80 percent never get anything more than a warning.

"Most people on campus never get a ticket," Gilbride said. "But we do issue citations to protect the parking of individuals who have paid for parking through permits or with meters. We have to do that to make it inconvenient for those who break the rules or don't pay to park."