By Victoria Gladstone
Former Editor-in-Chief
Campus Police has reported an increase in the number of car boots issued to students with three unpaid parking tickets compared to previous years at this point in the semester.
There have been 34 cases of car boots issued on campus this academic year, according to Campus Police, a figure close to surpassing the totals from the last two school years of 36 and 35, respectively.
Officer Claude Mastrosimone believes that the police station’s new parking management system AIMS, which was put into use as of last August, has made the ticketing process more organized and therefore easier to track those who are considered “bootable.”
It costs $50 to remove car boots, along with the payments of the other unpaid tickets. Parking tickets can vary from anywhere between $25 to $100 based on the severity of the violation.
Mastrosimone says that while he understands the higher initial cost of parking passes, it will save students the trouble of dealing with parking penalties. Undergraduate commuters pay $88.50 for a semester pass or $159.93 for a full year.
“It stinks because they’re not cheap, but to avoid getting the tickets and being inconvenienced with a boot later on late at night, it’s a lot easier doing it this way,” said Mastrosimone.
Students of the College who have unpaid parking fines will now also have holds on their PAWS account for fall class registration, according to an announcement by parking services on March 24.
Special education graduate student Gabriela Thomas said she was booted last month when she parked in the roundabout by Lot 17, located at the education building. She described the day it happened as “awful” because it immobilized her car for a few hours after she paid the tickets and forced her to miss her work shift as a behavioral therapist in East Windsor.
Despite having already been ticketed multiple times for parking in designated visitor spots around campus, Thomas insists that she will be parking at the closest places on campus to where her classes are. She got a parking pass for the semester the day she got the car boot.
“I need my car to be accessible,” said Thomas. “I can never find any spots [in Lot 17]. It’s better than having to walk far.”
