by Donald K. Wedding, UT-AAUP Executive Board

The Jacobs Administration is implementing a new parking surveillance policy/system where faculty, staff, students, and visitors will register their cars with license plate numbers, registration numbers, make, model, and color. Handicap stickers will be registered for only one car and cannot be used by a disabled person with another vehicle. Under the prior system parking placards were purchased and hung on the rear view mirrors along with any handicap sticker. These could be switched to a second car as needed.

License plates will be scanned in the parking lots at 90+ licenses per minute and unregistered cars will be ticketed. The average parking space is about 12 feet wide, so the scanner will be moving 1080 feet per minute to scan 90 license plates or 540 feet if two rows are simultaneously scanned. This is fast enough to raise safety questions for persons walking in the parking areas.

Only one car can be registered and used on campus. If one has a second car, it will have to be registered and substituted for the first car in the official UT record. One may not have more than one car registered at any given time. This could be a problem for two family members on campus if family vehicles are registered under one name.

This new policy will prohibit students, faculty, and staff from using an unregistered second car if the first car is being serviced. Rental and other vehicles driven by visitors will have to be registered online with My UT Portal before the car is driven on campus.
 

There are new parking rules including a prohibition against backing into a parking spot because the rear license plate must be visible for the scanner. This would be a parking violation and subject to ticketing.

City of Toledo officials have been alerted to the new system. To prevent off-campus parking, parking restrictions were posted by the City in Old Orchard.

A tracking system called AutoVu has been in use for the past two years at the University of Colorado. It is touted as a security system for finding stolen cars, but its primary function is to track parking violators and generate more parking fines.

In light of other questionable contracts signed by the Jacobs Administration such as Jake's windmill contract, we will be seeking more information about this new UT scanning system. Some of our questions are:

1. What is the capital and installation cost of the scanning hardware and software?

2. Was this a sole source or competitive bid contract?

3. What is the system maintenance cost?

4. What is the system operation cost?

5. Will the system work under all kinds of weather including ice and snow?

6. Is the system under warranty?

7. Will the system update fast enough to track new or substitute vehicle online registrations?

It is not known what person or persons in the Jacobs Administration are responsible for this new system other than the usual suspects. The Administration likes to exhibit its management power and skills to the UT Board of Trustees by pulling levers and turning knobs. One might hope there will be accountability if the system does not work, but this is unlikely. The Jacobs Administration is immune to oversight and criticism from the Board of Trustees.

The parking system can be used with other surveillance systems on campus. Big Brother Jacobs, what new control system is next for UT? How about pay toilets with surveillance cameras to make sure no one crawls under the door?

The parking regulations listed online currently apply only to students, but will be extended to faculty & staff. Because this new system has been unilaterally implemented without input from the campus community, the Jacobs Administration is receiving numerous questions and complaints. Tenured faculty are encouraged to send inquiries about the system directly to President Lloyd Jacobs at Lloyd.Jacobs@utoledo.edu