Note parking news, updates for spring semester Following is parking news and updates for the spring semester. 1. Parking enforcement will be normal as of Jan. 12. Students with no current permit may purchase a permit from the Parking Office in the lower level of the Memorial Union. A student permit for the remainder of the academic year is now $35. Parking is planning to implement an on-line sale option for student "S" permits to start April 2009. The plan includes an accounts receivable payment option with distribution in August. Faculty/staff renewal will begin immediately. "A" permits will be valid from December 2008 until August 2009 and will cost $120 for this nine-month period, with a maximum of 12 payroll deduction periods. Beginning August 2009, "A" permits will be renewed on an August to August cycle, with a maximum of 22 payroll deduction periods. Temporary permits are sold at $5 per day, $20 per week, or $2 for a weekend permit. 2. Ramp information: Daily about 200 students and 100 faculty/staff can enter the ramp by swiping their permit's bar code on the reader located on the second entry pedestal of Lane 1 or Lane 2. If your group is full, the electronic sign along Columbia Road will indicate student group is full or faculty/staff group is full. If that happens, you may pull a ticket, enter the ramp and drive around to the exit on Lane 3 or 5. Insert the ticket you just pulled into the machine on the first exit pedestal. If this is done within 15 minutes your parking is free and the gate will open. If you choose to stay longer than 15 minutes you will need to pay for the time you are parked in the ramp. You can pay with a credit card on Lane 3 or 5, or with a credit card or cash at the pay station located on Level 1 of the SW Tower. A limited number of ramp permits remain available. These permits have been changed so that they are also honored in surface lots ("A" or "S", depending on employee or student status). Contact the Parking Office to secure your ramp permit. If you would like assistance learning how to use the ramp, call parking at 777-3551 to schedule an appointment to review entrance/exit operations. It will only take one or two minutes to explain the system! 3. Parking ticket: Beginning this semester, parking tickets will no longer double after 14 days. The ticket rate structure has changed so that all tickets cost $20 or less, with the exception being a $100 fine for parking in an accessible space (HZ) with no state or UND accessible permit displayed. The new rate structure is posted on the UND Parking Web page. 4. Parking meters: Information is posted on each meter indicating the length of time the meter may be loaded, the charge rate for time parked, and whether or not each meter becomes a "G" zone in the evening or remains an active meter requiring coin payment on a 24/7 basis. The meters located north of the Christus Rex Lutheran Center have been removed and those spaces are now 30-minute zones. Additionally, 12 meters were removed by Twamley, with three HZ spaces and nine "A" spaces added. 5. Boot, tow, relocation policy: If our draft policy is approved, vehicles accumulating four or more unpaid tickets will become eligible for any of the mentioned sanctions. If approved, this change will be well publicized. 6. Frequent violator: If our draft policy is approved, a violator accumulating 20 or more parking tickets during a school year will lose their parking privileges on campus for the balance of the school year. If approved, this change will be well publicized. 7. Appeal process: The parking ticket appeal process in person at the Parking Office or online to the Parking Office remains unchanged. Additional appeal avenues will be created if the boot/tow/relocation policy and/or the frequent violator policy are approved. 8. Information on parking questions: Please call the Parking Office at 777-3551 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday if you have any questions on parking services. We would much rather solve the issue before enforcement staff finds your vehicle parked in violation of a rule/regulation. (www.parking.und.edu/). -- Tim Lee, parking services manager.