The parking lots at Pierce College are once again bustling during the school week, now that more students are coming to campus post-pandemic.
With the hopes of managing campus parking, Pierce has required students to purchase $20 parking passes from the business office. Cars without passes can be subject to a ticket.
To carry out parking enforcement, Pierce has hired the company Peak Parking, spending $52,790 for this school year. This marks the first time the college has contracted a firm for such duties.
Pierce Vice President of Administrative Services Rolf Schleicher explained that all colleges in the district are implementing stricter parking policies. He said the college is trying to keep its fees as low as possible.
“Parking is a very contentious issue, and we don’t want to be punitive,” Schleicher said. “We never want to put a student in that situation.”
David Bayless, a parking enforcement agent with Peak Parking, said his job is straightforward.
“The only training I’ve had was just on how to use our app to do the tickets,” Bayless said. “It’s pretty self-explanatory.”
His daily tasks include ensuring the students are parking correctly, by avoiding parking in staffing areas or double parking. He noted that another common infraction includes failing to pay for parking passes.
“There’s also double parking, which I see a lot in Lot 7,” Bayless said. “Everything’s straight tickets now.”
Each citation carries a fine of $35, which escalates to $42 after 30 days if unpaid. Unpaid fines are eventually sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles, which could further complicate matters for students.
Bayless suggested the college should get clearer signage, especially in staff parking areas, because students often park in these restricted spots.
Students expressed mixed feelings about the parking enforcement.
Biology major John Larios said he thinks the money spent on Peak Parking could be better invested into resources for students.
“I’m not too happy about schools charging for parking,” Larios said.
Marketing major Jonathan Arouh said he thinks the parking passes and parking enforcement make sense. He said he thinks the $20 cost for a pass is reasonable.
“There’s obviously a lot of people who drive here, and we need some way to filter out the supply and demand of everyone who wants to park,” Arouh said.
