Instead of receiving a $55 parking citation, people will receive an invoice of $15 due at midnight the next day
By KAYA DO-KHANH — campus@theaggie.org
On April 3, UC Davis Transportation Services (TAPS) announced the new Parking Invoice Program that it will be piloting this quarter. The program, which is being put in place in response to community feedback, grants partial relief for people who forgot to pay for parking or do not have knowledge about parking payment options on campus. Instead of receiving a parking citation of $55, individuals will receive an invoice for the non-UC Davis affiliate rate of $15 if they do not pay for parking in a campus lot. If they pay the invoice fee by the following day at midnight, they will not receive a parking citation. However, if they do not pay the fee, they will receive the normal $55 ticket.
“The program was put into place in response to community feedback to provide a simpler and more affordable process for those who forgot to pay for parking or weren’t aware of their permit options,” TAPS Engagement and Marketing Specialist Shelby Slutzker said via email. “The goal of the program is to provide a convenient and less expensive process while educating customers on daily choice parking and improving compliance.”
Invoices are only issued in C, L, M and F zones without a permit and are not issued in A or C+ zones. Slutzker said that this is because the TAPS compliance team is unable to distinguish who qualifies for parking A and C+ zones when issuing an invoice and wants to protect access to such spaces for those who do qualify for them.
Affiliates and non-affiliates can receive two of these $15 invoices every 12 months. After two invoices, they will receive the normal parking ticket if they do not pay for parking. Additionally, invoices are not appealable and will automatically turn into a citation if an appeal is submitted. Slutzker said that the invoice program is also an attempt to remove the inconvenience of the appeal process.
Valeria Cantor Mendez, a third-year community and regional development major, received a parking citation after forgetting to pay for parking and said that she is not in favor of the pilot program.
“As someone who parks regularly in C+ zones because it is so hard to find regular spots, this would not apply to me,” Cantor Mendez said. “Since [the invoices] are not appealable, it just forces you to pay the $15 without being able to explain yourself. The way that I was able to get out of my ticket was through an appeal, which resulted in me just paying the $3 I owed.”
Despite some hesitance, the pilot program has generally received positive feedback from the UC Davis community since its launch, and the decision of whether or not to permanently implement the program will be based on TAPS’s consideration of community input, program effectiveness and compliance and appeal rates, according to Slutzker.
Second-year English major Cadence Cockrell, who has received two parking citations this school year, said that she sees the benefits the program offers people who forgot to pay or are unaware of their payment options.
“I think the new parking invoice program is a good grace period to implement for when people forget to pay or don’t realize the parking rules for the lot they’re parking in,” Cockrell said. “Fifty-five dollars is kind of a lot, especially for a college student parking on their own campus.”
In an additional effort to address parking citations issued to those who forget to pay, TAPS is currently working with the ParkMobile application to activate an alert when a user drives onto the campus area as a reminder to pay for parking, according to a recent press release.
Written by: Kaya Do-Khanh — campus@theaggie.org
