Parking fraud out of operation

If not already, those who wish to park in an on-campus garage will find something new when they pull in. Since June 17, IU Parking Operations has been utilizing a new swipe system -- a yellow box through which patrons must run their parking permits in order to enter and exit the four garages: Poplars, 11th and Fee, Jordan and Atwater.\nThose who hold "A" permits are allowed to park in any garage for free, but in order to enter, they must swipe their permit to track the time of entry. Upon departure, they must swipe again -- all in an effort to crack down on parking fraud.\nWhile those with "C," "D," "E" and "F" permits are free to park in any garage without paying after 5 p.m., they must now take a parking stub if they are coming in before this 5 p.m. deadline. They must then swipe their permit on their way out of the garage to get the after-hours time for free and pay for the time they parked prior to 5 p.m.\n"I was leaving the Poplars building at 5:30 the other night and there were two booths going out with a line of 10-12 cars because of problems with the machines," said Melodee Bristoe, Director for Program Services. Bristoe handles concerns and complaints with the parking system.\n"One day I got here five or 10 minutes before 8 o'clock and it took maybe 10 minutes to get in," she said.\nIndiana Memorial Union employee Mike Becker thinks Parking Operations has gotten out of hand.\n"Why are they making money off of people who work for them?" he asked in reference to faculty and staff having to pay for campus permits. \n"At Kansas State, I know their parking garages are by coin. You type in a number for how long you're going to be there, and you can park on all the residential streets," he said.\nSenior Brittany Davis thinks the new system is confusing, but sees it as necessary for patrons to keep their permits with them at all times.\n"You should keep your ticket or permit anyway," she said. But it's hard enough to reach out of your car to get a parking stub."\n"If you're running late to class you know that if you drive, you'll have to pay and that can cost up to $13," Davis said. "You may not want to go to class then because you know you'll have to pay."\nBristoe said while patrons are lucky to get the machines to work on the first try, there's no consistency, and it may take anywhere from four to six tries to get through.\n"It's to keep people from doing things like swapping permits," Bristoe said. "It's to prevent people from running around the corner to give their permit to someone else."\nParking Operations did not return repeated requests for comment.