Parking forum addresses campus concerns
Thursday, March 13, 2008, 19:30 EST
Between Fall 2007 and Feb. 18, BUPD gave out 3,091 parking tickets -- 1,129 were to commuters, 818 to residents, 387 to Greek residents, 410 to village residents and 362 were faculty and staff tickets.
These facts, along with more, were shared as Vice President of Operations Mike Gardner and Assistant Police Chief Andy Ryan held a parking forum on Feb. 28 at Atherton Union.
Students, faculty and staff were invited to voice their concerns, ask questions and share their feelings on the issues of parking on and around Butler’s campus.
Gardner and Ryan addressed issues such as neighborhood versus city ordinances, terms of ticketing and the process of appealing.
When a professor asked about the likelihood of a ticket being appealed and the extent to which mercy is had on first-time offenders, Ryan responded, “I am not heartless.”
Ryan estimated that about 60 percent of appeals are granted to those receiving parking tickets.
“It is up to each individual to be informed of policies on Butler’s campus,” Gardner said.
Gardner explained that the pedestrian mall created outside of the library was one factor that greatly affected the parking situation and eliminated spots on campus. With more registered vehicles than spaces available, BUPD is trying to be equitable when it comes to the parking situation.
“The $35 paid to register your vehicle is a hunting license,” Gardner said. “It doesn’t give you a right to a parking place.”
Attendees were given a parking allocation map, a list of regulations and the breakdown of how many spaces are made available for each particular group of individuals. The following chart depicts how many spaces are allotted to each group compared with how many registered vehicles are in that group:
Group Registered; Vehicles; Allotted Spaces
Faculty & Staff; 1162; 713
Residential Halls; 947; 712
Apartment Village; 369; 516(Surplus)
Commuters (Includes University Terrace); 921; 557
When asked where the money from vehicle registration and parking tickets go, Gardner said that it goes toward police cars, up-keep, gas and maintenance and lighting around campus.
After one guest suggested the possibility of a transportation system or parking structure being made available, Gardner said that Butler does not wish to spend its money creating more spots just so that everybody may park exactly where they want to.
“On top of a $40,000 education, [these things] are not feasible and are not good uses of university resources,” Gardner said.
After questions and comments ceased, Gardner concluded by saying that by students, faculty and staff coming forward and voicing their opinions, changes are more likely to occur. However, he said that with the two different parking forums and four hours made available for parking discussion, only about 20 people attended.
“This was their opportunity to vent and to make a change,” Gardner said.

