Towing in effect

Towing — Bee Line Towing has been busy moving vehicles that are improperly parked. On the first day of class, the company towed 50 cars that were illegally-parked. Photo credit: Ruth Bibby

Liberty University’s faculty, staff and students felt the pressure as the administration put a new parking plan into effect for the 2012-13 academic year.

The new parking plan allowed students to choose from three zones varying in price from $30 to $400, according to Liberty’s Vice President of Financial Research and Development Richard Martin.

Although some students initially complained about the apparent price increase, according to Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. and Martin, the overall price of parking has actually decreased from $1.9 million of total university income to an anticipated $1.8 million this year.

“Richard spent a whole year thinking about it, planning and studying,” Falwell said. “I think we are seeing the improvements that are a result of his education. It is not something you can read in a book. Every campus is different, you have to figure out what works in your campus.”

According to Martin, the new plan took years to develop.

“A lot of what we did this fall we tried last spring,” Martin said.
“Our big push was to go from a lot of zones to a simplified system with three zones. We managed to get 90 percent of our vehicles into those three zones.”

Although the new plan had some resistance when the initial application began last spring, according to Falwell, there has been a much better response this semester.

“We know we are transforming the main campus,” Martin said. “We know that that means pretty outstanding facilities are going to go in place of where some old buildings used to be, and in some cases where old parking used to be. We know that over the course of the next couple of years, we need to get the campus to understand that the closer you park to that area, the higher the demand.”

The zones were filled both through lottery and a first-come-first-serve basis, according to Martin.

“We needed to come up with a way to manage that demand,” Martin said. “We set out that the main campus would be the issue. Protecting and addressing that area was our main issue.”

With addressing that issue in mind, the administration chose to begin towing all unauthorized or illegally-parked vehicles on the first day of classes, according to Liberty University Police Department’s Chief of Police Colonel Richard D. Hinkley.

“You will find that those cars that used to park illegally in front of DeMoss will not be parking in those illegal spots anymore,” Hinkley said. “We towed 50 cars on Monday, 40 Tuesday and close to 30 on Wednesday.”

This decrease in illegal parking is mainly because of the improved parking within the other zones, according to Hinkley.

The administration also stressed the external pressure that impacts parking.

“The infrastructure outside of Liberty is inadequate in terms of handling the amount of traffic we bring in,” Director of Auxiliary Services Lee Beaumont said. “It was just not built to handle the volume.”

However, Falwell said there are ways for students to help make a change.

“It is important for students to register to vote so they can put pressure on the city to upgrade the roads around Liberty. Lynchburg receives the vast majority of its sales tax revenue from the stores surrounding Liberty, but instead of spending the money to widen Wards Road, the city spends millions on fancy sidewalks downtown,” Falwell said.

“The only way that it is going to change is for students to register to vote locally in big numbers. If students get involved, these inequities will end,” Falwell said.

Hinkley also stressed the immediate changes that can be made in order to foster a better campus atmosphere.

“Really evaluate your need for parking,” Hinkley said. “If you want to pay the higher amount, fine. But if you are only going to use your car twice a semester, there may be someone who really needs that space, and we will transition your decal to a lower cost.”

One comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *