The No. 1 question Grambling State University commuting students ask themselves is, “Can I park here?”
The Traffic Department will give commuters and other students until after Labor Day to obey and follow all parking and traffic rules.
“Parking patrols will start to issue out citations Sept. 4,” said GSU Chief of police Michael Storr.
Every semester GSU students are being heavily ticketed because of unintentional violations of the school’s parking policies.
“One afternoon I drove to class and this traffic and parking patrol said I could park between Woodson and Adams, but when I came out of class, I received a ticket,” said sophomore psychology major Reyunia Holmes.
Commuters feel a bit confused and some believe that GSU should become more informative about where and where not to park during the school year.
“Last semester students were being ticketed left and right for parking at the buildings their class was in,” said sophomore social work major Kiara Taylor. “Now this semester all of the same exact parking spaces are available for students, and this is confusing us.”
According to the GSU Traffic and Parking Handbook even the absence of a “No Parking” sign does not indicate that it is a spot for allowed parking.
Parking policy rules and regulations are in effect at all times from the first day of classes until the last day. Parking patrols will be monitoring vehicles Monday thru Friday between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Students feel that there are a lot of spaces to park but, at the same time, it is limited spaces because of the rules.
“I feel there are lot of spaces but it’s still hard to figure out sometimes when and where to park,” said Taylor.
Woodson Hall’s parking lot recently aquired a blue sign indicating that the vehicle that is parked there must have a parking permit and if that car doesn’t it will result in a $200-$500 fine.
For commuting students there is a parking lot in front of the Police Station but hardly any cars are there.
“The commuter parking spaces is located right by our Police Department in front of the Catholic Church but nobody parks there because it’s an inconvenience for many students,” said Storr.
An unauthorized vehicle that is parked in reserve spaces or in designated areas will result with that individual’s vehicle being towed.
According to GSU traffic department, if a vehicle receives 2 or more citations, it vehicle will we towed or immobilized.
In the hours of regulation parking, only persons with fully registered vehicles are allowed to park in the appropriate lots. Students who drive an unregistered vehicle will receive a citation.
To receive a parking permit, all registrants must show proof of insurance to the GSU traffic department and also a valid driver’s license. The GSU Traffic Handbook also states that staff isn’t required to be registered to a vehicle.
All-on campus students according to the traffic department are not allowed to drive to class. Students and faculty driving a vehicle on campus must have the “G” sticker decal on the lower back left window of the vehicle. The failure to do so will result in a fine.
For the Fall semester all “G” Sticker decals will be white. The way parking patrols can tell who is driving the vehicle is simply by the letter on the sticker. The letter “S” is for student, “C” is for commuter, and “F” is for faculty.
“I advice everyone to follow the rules because the handbook tells you where and when you are allowed to park, we have commuter parking zones, student parking zones which are at their dorms, and faculty parking zones,” said Storr.