PTS officials looking for other ways to stop it for good

file photo/Arizona Daily Wildcat

A Tucsonan "piggy-backs" out of the Park Avenue Garage, 1140 N. Park Ave., earlier this month. Parking and Transportation Services employees say illegal tailgating out of parking garages is on the decline.

Fewer drivers piggyback out of UA garages than earlier this semester, but officials continue the search for methods of erasing the situation for good.

Mike Delehanty, program coordinator for Parking and Transportation Services, said some drivers continue to tailgate permit holders as they drive through the gates of all five university garages, but they do it less frequently than before.

Fifty-four piggyback offenders have been booted so far, and Delahanty said his staff will continue to find offenders and boot their vehicles.

"I still have a good portion on my list that we haven't found yet," Delahanty said.

He said permit-holding students who have been piggybacked are appreciative of the way PTS has chosen to handle the situation. One student said the money she paid should at least guarantee her a good spot in the garage.

"It angers me that they take advantage of (the garage gates) that way," said Amanda Plicht, finance junior.

Materials science senior Kenny Delbridge, who holds a permit for the Park Avenue Garage, 1140 E. Helen St., disagreed, saying that the piggybacking is fair in light of the prices of parking permits.

"It's somewhat of a justice for students," he said. "They're taking all of your money for parking passes already."

Delahanty said PTS even looked to other universities for help, but the problem remains.

"I called Texas A&M, and they said they aren't even doing anything about it," he said.

Karen Melodia, parking customer service manager for University of Illinois Chicago, said UIC works with the city of Chicago to enforce parking garage rules.

"If anyone sees it, we write them a city ticket," she said.

Melodia said all 42 parking lots on the UIC campus are gated. A city-issued citation runs at $50 and is counted in addition to any parking violations the driver has made within the city.

"This is a consistent problem, but I'd say we have a pretty good grasp on things," Melodia said.

The University of California-Berkeley got rid of the gates at parking lots 20 years ago, but they might come back.

Nadesan Permaul, UC-Berkeley director of transportation, said any car parked in a university lot must display a pass in order to avoid getting a ticket. Even visiting motorists must display a temporary permit issued when they enter the garage.

"One way or another, you're displaying a permit," he said.

UC-Berkeley also enters all parking tickets into the California Motor Vehicle Division database to assure a payment from the offender.

Officials at other universities said they cannot do much about the problem.

"If we see them, we write citations," said Katharine Mateer, Michigan State University Parking Facilities supervisor. "We actually have to see them in order to cite them."