Virginia Tech Parking Services (VTPS) is an organization associated with Virginia Tech that is responsible for issuing parking passes, permits, and parking tickets. One common purpose of VTPS is to ensure that students and faculty are able to park on campus and associated grounds according to the parking pass that they purchased, while giving out tickets to those who are attempting to wrongfully use the spaces. They have lost sight of this purpose.

Pre-COVID, most parking lots at Virginia Tech were free to park after 5PM, whether you purchased a parking pass or not, and it was free for everyone to park over the weekends. Now, nearly all parking lots require a pass until 10PM, some lots have installed new signs with “No Parking Anytime”, and some took away C/G (Student) spots for F/S (Faculty), such as in Squires Lot. Furthermore, according to the VT website, Virginia Tech recently reached over 37000 students, meaning parking is more necessary than ever, and yet, they chose to demolish Goodwin Lot, and buses are overcrowded.

The pandemic allowed VTPS to capitalize on an already stressful situation. VT has claimed that the reason they made these changes was to “discourage travelling to campus” and for “social distancing”, but if that were solely true, we would have already reverted back to the old ways in terms of parking. Our classes are back to in-person, distancing is no longer required, and masks are optional.

The real reason is the US dollar. With online classes, Virginia Tech lost a significant source of their income from in-person related activities, such as parking. They needed to figure out a way to generate more revenue, and one of those solutions was to give out as many tickets as they possibly could. VT even raised the price of tickets in most lots from $35 to $40. They take advantage of the fact that students, even those who already paid hundreds of dollars for a parking pass, do not have the time or the resources to truly fight the ticket.

There is an appeal process for parking tickets instilled by VTPS. However, winning a ticket appeal is not just “rare” – it is unheard of. Considering that neither I, nor my Virginia Tech attending peers, have ever heard of someone winning an appeal against an unfair ticket, there must be mitigation. The change should not only be to this process, but to the root of the problem, which is the way Virginia Tech Parking Services functions as a whole.

A massive issue in the process is that after your initial appeal, which is done as a post online and seems to be rejected by default, you must pay your ticket in full before you can appeal again with a VTPS committee. This is already the point where most students give up and just pay the ticket, because once Virginia Tech takes your money, it is nearly impossible to get it back.

In my case, there was a sign at the front of the parking lot that clearly states “‘P’ Any University Permit”, but they put up an F/S sign facing the opposite direction of the entrance to the lot, and under a tree. You can see where my car was from the perspective of the attached picture. Regardless of the fact that the F/S sign was hidden, there was conflicting information presented, which creates undeniable reasonable doubt. I also know that this sign was not there before May 2022, as my peers and I have been using this lot for a long time. This is the kind of case that is quickly dismissed in a real American court setting. VTPS is cherry-picking the unclear information that it presents to us, choosing whatever makes them the most money. Another example of this would be the PC/PG sign by Prices Fork, which clearly has the words “Commuter” and “Graduate” in its unabbreviated definition. And yet, you still get the same priced ticket with a C/G pass as with no pass at all.

We are attempting to pay for our right to park at the school that we attend, for which we already pay far too many thousands of dollars. While it is important to control parking on campus, VTPS is not just taking it to an extreme, they are committing downright criminal acts. The meager checks and balances that are placed upon VTPS are insufficient to create fair hearings. We must restructure the way that VT Parking Services and parking on campus functions, because right now, they are minions of the deep-pocketed Virginia Tech administrators who continue increasing the higher-ups’ wealth in exchange for the illusion of power.

This is your opportunity to share the times that VTPS has wronged you. Tell about the time you left your car for 60 seconds and came back with a ticket on the dash. Tell about the time that they pointed out a sign behind some dumpsters or construction that you couldn’t have found without a map. Tell about the time you were physically unable to move your car for whatever reason, be it because you broke your leg or got kidnapped by the mafia, and they simply did not care. This is your time to make your voice heard. REALLY heard.

Once we reach enough signatures in this petition, I will be contacting local news stations to air your stories loud and clear about the corrupt organization you have been forced to endure without the power to create change. One goal of this is to revert back to the old, pre-COVID parking rules. The ultimate goal, however, is not only to restructure the way VTPS works, but also to fairly, emphasis on FAIRLY, reimburse everyone that feels they have ever been wronged by these criminals who steal your and your family’s hard-earned cash. We will no longer accept this injustice. We will make certain that the integrity Virginia Tech claims to have is upheld.