As of August 2014, Texas Tech University Transportation and Parking Services had issued at least 135,332 parking tickets over two and a half years. At a normal price of $25 per ticket, that can be expensive for students. Ben Sharp has an idea to alleviate the cost.
Sharp, who is running for Student Government Association external vice president as a part of campaign bloc Techsan Tradition, wants to implement a program allowing students to trade unpaid parking tickets with completed community service hours.
Sharp said the $25 parking ticket fee can be a lot for some students. To put it in comparison, Sharp said, most parking tickets issued by the city of Lubbock have a $12 fine.
Allowing students to serve instead of pay would fulfill another Techsan Tradition initiative: encourage students to participate in community service.
“It would be through major organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Boys and Girls Club, things that are very reputable and already established in the community,” Sharp said.
Sharp said there would be a few community service opportunities throughout the year that would allow students to work off their parking tickets. Mirrored from a Texas A&M University event, Tech the Town would be a day for students to give back to the Lubbock community. Sharp said there would be a designated person who — in partnership with parking services — would keep track of whom worked and for how long. Sharp clarified students who simply want to volunteer would be welcome to do so.
How long a student would have to work to waive the parking ticket fee has yet to be determined. Sharp said the initiative would need a lot of support from students, charitable organizations and parking services to be successful.
Sharp joked it may boost parking services’ reputation on campus.
“Texas Tech parking services kind of gets a bad rep., and a lot of it is unjustifiable,” Sharp said. “You can tell through Carol of the Lights; I mean everyone knows what goes down. So, through that, we got the idea.”
Sharp hopes this will be the first of many initiatives to encourage more community involvement.
To hear more about Sharp, watch Conversations with Candidates.
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