Parking Service Contracted to Private Company
By Broadside News Editor Sonya Hudson
Parking Services is under contract with Standard Parking.
This company started on July 1, 2005. Parking Services has been contracted out since at least since 1995. Before Standard Parking, there was Colonial Parking.
The university has long decided to have parking, as well as other services, contracted to a third party.
“Back in the 1990s, the senior administration made a decision to contract out many of the auxiliary services, such as Dining to Sodexho, Housing to Century Housing and the bookstore to Barnes & Noble. So it was more of an institutional decision [to contract out parking],” said Josh Cantor, director of parking and transportation.
Some of the advantages for the parking contract are that “expertise can be brought in from a company with nationwide parking industry experience and personnel can often be brought in faster as opposed to a state hiring process,” Cantor said.
Students who worry this company profits from parking tickets need not worry.
“Standard is paid a flat management fee and does not share in any profits or make a commission on permit sales, citations or any other source of revenue,” Cantor said.
According to the director of parking and transportation, “The only real difference with having a contractor is that the employees officially work for Standard and not Mason.”
“Enforcement staff within Parking Services patrols the lots,” Cantor said. “The university sets all the processes, the regulations and the fine amounts as it pertains to enforcement.”
For those students who are unaware of the process of issuing citations, the director of parking and transportation explains.
“Citation notices are issued and placed on the offender’s windshield. They are also notified by next day e-mail or mail if we know who the citation belongs to as a reminder in case they didn’t get the citation notice,” Cantor said. “We can also go to the DMV to find out who the owner is and then they will be notified and held responsible for the citation.”
For more information about parking services, vist their Web site at:
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