 "Photo: File Photo")
Those parking in a West Virginia University short-term parking lot will now have a 10-minute grace period to pay for their spot.
If the person presents a paid parking stub within the time frame of receiving the citation, it will now be forgiven, said Eric Rosie, assistant director of Parking Administration at West Virginia University. The new policy was officially implemented at the start of this year.
"We were getting some students' concerns about the change machine not working," Rosie said.
"By the time you walked to get change, you would come back and have a ticket waiting on your car."
Before, tudents would have to bring the citation and paid ticket stub to Mountaineer Station located on Van Voorhis Road, Rosie said. The timestamps on the pay stub will show the person attempted to pay it, he said.
Daniel Brummage, SGA chief-of-staff and Parking and Transportation Advisory Board member, brought the issue to Rosie's attention last semester.
There will be no limit on how many days it takes students to report the citations to Mountaineer Station, he said.
Brummage said the board also voted in April to lower ticket prices within the year. The measure passed by a vote of four to three, he said.
"There's a lot of changes that need to be made with parking and transportation," Brummage said. "We need to focus on what we can achieve immediately."
However, Rosie said there are no plans to implement the lowering of citations at this time.
"Originally we wanted a staggered system so that if you paid it within five days, it would only cost $10, and anytime after that would be $20," Brummage said. "This would encourage students to pay the tickets on time."
The computer system within the Parking Administration Office would not allow the staggered system. The office is expecting a computer upgrade in the next few months that could support the system, he said.
WVU has the highest citation fees in the state, Brummage said.
Morgantown and Huntington are the only cities allowed to ticket up to $20. Marshall issues parking citations for $10.
In July 2009, citations increased to $20. Before the increase, they were $10. In years past, the citations rates were $5.