EXCESSIVE PARKING TICKETS AT

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW

MEXICO

Kristina Perea

Table of Contents
Abstract
..................
..... 1
Methodology
...............
2
Results.......
.................... 3
Discussion.
...................
4-5
Final
Recommendations
6-7

ABSTRACT
The main purpose for this report is to identify the issue with
the University of New Mexico parking tickets. The issue at
UNM is that the Parking and Transportation Department
(PATS) gives an excessive amount of parking tickets to
students. My Methodology will include four research steps:
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(1) informal interview, (2) formal interview, (3) online

research, (4) analyze data. After conducing my interviews as
well as my research, I was able to identify issues on both the
students side along with PATS. During my two interviews and
research I was able to conclude with a solution that fit both
PATS and the students. This solution being, every UNM
student would be given a sticker to put on their for PATS to
identify, after three warnings they have to pay their Parking
Ticket. This policy would be called the 3 Strike Pol

How much money have you spent in parking

tickets this year?
I have proposed an idea to lessen the stress of parking
tickets while still providing a financial income to the
Parking and Transportation Services Department. The
report includes a formal interview, an informal interview
along with the research below to support my findings.
How does UNM Parking negatively affect student
financial aid statuses, you ask? In order to ensure the
best quality research regarding parking at UNM, I have
interviewed one person from each side of the issue; a
UNM student and a Parking and Transportation member,
below are my findings.
Methods:

Formal Interview
Informal Interview
On-line research
Analyze Data

Formal Interview: My formal Interviewee is a senior at

UNM, who is nearing Graduation. I asked her a series of
questions regarding her financial aid status as well as

the approximate cost she has spent in parking permits

and tickets this year.
Informal Interview: My second interviewee was with a
Parking and Transportation employee. I asked a
separate series of questions pertaining to the ticking
process; which vehicles he tickets and why and how it
negatively impacts student finances. We discussed his
opinion on the amount of tickets he is responsible for
issuing daily.
Online research: According to a University of New
Mexico admissions article students pay an average of
$20,262.00 per year, in tuition at UNM. Parking permits
range in price from $175.00 to $499.00 per year, based
on being a campus resident, non-resident and the
vicinity in which you wish to park. Unfortunately, the
price of a parking permit is not included in the tuition
fees.
Results:
Student Interview: The student I interviewed did not
purchase a parking permit because she is not a UNM
resident and felt parking at the sports complex was too
inconvenient and expensive for the time she attended
classes. The cost to park at the sports complex is
$175.00 per year and a shuttle bus will pick up and drop
off students every 15 minutes. Due to her employment
and her class schedule, she felt parking at the sports
complex to be cumbersome and opted to pay a daily
pass of $1.00 per every half hour. She remained on
campus an average of 4 to 5 hours per day, paying an
average of $8.00 - $10.00 per day, five days a week and
approximately $45.00 - $50.00 per month.

Daily passes are available but are difficult to purchase,

the signs related to paying for a daily pass are quite
confusing, there is no clear direction of where the pay
station is located. Because the pay stations are not
conveniently located, she often times parked without
paying and was ticketed once a week on average. The
price of each ticket was an additional $25 per ticket/
$100 per week on average.
PATS Interview: My conversation with the PATS
employee, who himself is a former UNM student, was
informal and he was unaware I was interviewing him for
this report. In my discussion with him, I asked how
many tickets he issued on a weekly basis, his answer
was close to 100. When I asked him how much
revenue ticket fees bring into the PATS department, he
responded, easily $5000 a month. I was curious to see
if he is aware of any consideration to lower ticket prices,
to ease the financial burden on students, his response
was, not that I am aware of. I then asked him why the
ticket fees were so expensive his response was it was
just another way for them (UNM) to make more
money. He said that he felt the same frustration when
he was a UNM student and understood the difficulties of
finding a place to park and pay the ticket fees, but felt
he was just doing his job.

I was also able to calculate the

Non-Residents yearly expenses
using my online research. This
is also a calculation on
Transportation, Tuition and
Fees, Room and Board, Books
and Supplies, and
Miscellaneous items. In total
students who are NonResidents at the University of
New Mexico pay a yearly

According to my online
research, I was able to
calculate the total amount
Residents pay yearly. This is
a calculation on
Transportation, Tuition and
Fees, Room and Board,
Books and Supplies, and
Miscellaneous items. In total
studens who are Residents
at the University of New
Mexico pay $20,262.00
yearly. (Left)

Discussion:

My research was extremely beneficial in gaining an

overall and broader knowledge on this subject, as I was
able to see both the student and Parking &
Transportation views. Students should consider the
benefits of parking both on and off campus, the cost of
where they want to park and allow sufficient time to get
to class thus alleviating parking fines. PATS employees
are on campus to perform a job and bring revenue to
UNM. The figure below shows the tickets that are issued
weekly, between students and visitors on the UNM
Campus.

Final Recommendation:
I recommend that students be issued a sticker that PATS
can easily identify and a three-strike policy for students
who get ticketed for not paying for a parking pass. This
three-strike policy would consist of the following: (1)
first violation would be a written warning, (2) second
violation would be a written warning stating that the
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next time there was not a parking pass purchased, there

would be a fine issued, (3) fine issued. This
recommendation based on my interviews and on-line
research provides a fair solution to both parties.

Works Cited:
"Cost of Attendance." :: OFFICE of ADMISSIONS. New Mexico's Flagship
University, n.d. Web. 30 July 2016.
"Permits." :: Parking & Transportation Services. New Mexico's Flagship
University, n.d. Web. 30 July 2016.

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