There aren't many ways to avoid paying for a parking spot on campus. Often, when students try to cheat the system, they get a parking ticket for their troubles.
Tickets cost $5 for metered parking and $20 for parking in reserved spots on campus. During the course of the school year, tickets can add up to the cost of several parking passes. A parking pass costs from $5 for a temporary pass to $185 for a yearly garage permit.
According to Gene Burton, acting director of Public Safety, most student and faculty/staff parking permits average about $20 to $40, depending on where you park.
There are, however, a few alternatives to purchasing a parking pass. It may require the two things many college students fear - extra work and waking up early.
Students can park for free if they get to campus early enough for some of the city's street parking. University Avenue has free parking in front of the Student Center to Tillotson Avenue along the north side of the street. On Riverside Avenue, there is parking in front of Christy Woods. Students can also park on Gilbert Street by Ball Memorial Hospital, as long as they don't mind walking. These spots have unlimited parking time, except from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m.
A commuter parking permit is $40 for the year, and parking is available at the shuttle bus turnaround and near the Student Center. Sophomore Kristen Garrison of Anderson drives 25 minutes to campus and parks in the commuter lots.
"I try to park in the lot near the Student Center because it's closest to my classes," Garrison said. "When that's full, I park near the turnaround. It's a real hassle and a lot more time consuming."
Near the Studebaker complexes, New York and Neely avenues provide a few coveted, unlimited spots.
Many students who live on campus with no desire to park their car at the stadium, try their luck with parking off campus - perhaps at a friend's house or near the fraternity houses.
"Parking off campus is very limited for students," Burton said. "Most street parking has a time limit on it. "
Before this semester, most metered lots offered a one-hour limit but were recently changed to 45-minute meters. If students are brave and quick enough to risk parking during class time, they might make it back to their cars before receiving a ticket. The biggest metered lot on campus is between the Robert Bell Building and LaFollette Complex.
Those who wish to park in church and business lots face not only a ticket and fine but could also have their car towed.
The only other no-cost options are to park at a friend's house or to take the two-hour limited spots. These are by far the most plentiful of the parking-lot alternatives. The city of Muncie's police officers monitors street parking - not the University Police Department.
There is two-hour parking behind the Student Center, on Talley, McKinley, College and Nichols avenues as well as along Washington Street.
Students can always park in the parking garages for $1 per day, but that is more costly than passes and often requires a waiting period during busy hours to get a spot.
Another alternative is to move the car out of the garage late at night and into a 20-minute spot, only to get up around 7 and move the car to the right lot and taking the shuttle bus back to campus.
"Students should know they are not allowed to park in certain places around campus," said Malcolm Richards of the Traffic Appeals Committee.
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