Parking Operations offers new nighttime permit 2 decks please

Students spending late nights at the Main Library and anywhere across campus might have an easier time finding a parking space.\nStarting this fall, IU Parking Operations will unveil a new "F" permit, allowing IU students and local residents evening access to any non-24-hour "A", "C" or "E" space.\nThe "F" permit is valid from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. and costs $39 for 12 months.\nThe "F" permit comes in wake of a proposal made last spring by the IU Student Association, requesting the implementation of a less expensive parking alternative that would allow students access to parking in the evening. \nThe accessibility the permit grants will eliminate hassle for students, who generally illegally park and are often times ticketed, IU student body president Jake Oakman said. Plus, at such an affordable cost, Oakman, a senior said he thinks the "F" permit is a significant victory for IU students.\n"The advantage to having this permit is that it allows students to legally park on spaces on campus after 5 p.m. because contrary to popular myth, cars are still subject to ticketing in many areas after this time," Oakman said.\n"The cost of this permit is roughly the same as one parking ticket, so it is a good investment for students who commute into campus in the evenings to utilize the computer labs, libraries, do group projects, etc."\nStudents who live in apartment complexes, fraternities or sororities or those that commute to campus in the evenings to do class work would best be served by this new permit, said Doug Porter, parking operations manager. \n"The market for it is for people who live so close to campus," Porter said. "We see it as both a convenience to students at night who use it to go to campus, and a security issue."\nIU senior Aaron Zeiher recognizes the benefits accrued from acquiring the "F" permit. "This permit would be a benefit to those living off-campus, especially those who are members of the Greek community," Zeiher said. "Since I live off-campus and affiliate with a Greek organization, this permit would allow me to have a measure of discretion to where I am able to park." \nThe added advantages of the permit are that it is not exclusively for students and it is less expensive than the "E" permit, which runs about $78 per semester, said Miriam Whitlow, executive director of transportation. \nParking officials are optimistic that the new permit will open up new opportunities to students who want to access on-campus parking areas in the evenings. They are unsure, however, whether this permit will change the individual transportation patterns of the more than 15,000 individual parkers every day. \n"I really don't know how many permits we will sell or if it will noticeably change the way the parking lots are used," Porter said.