For students with Blue Zone parking permits, the Rolling Stones concert, home football games and graduate school basketball ticket campouts all mean one thing-the hassle of moving their cars to Central Campus for the weekend.
This year Duke has sponsored many events that require students to relocate their vehicles.
"It's really annoying, and I feel like there should be a better option," sophomore Rachel Brown said.
Sophomore Brandon Guard received a $40 improper permit ticket for not moving his car back to the Blue Zone after a home football game weekend.
"It's a pain-especially when you have a lot of other weekend events going on-sometimes you just forget where your car is," Guard said. "But then you don't remember until you have a class conflict."
In response to the numerous events requiring car removal, Duke Parking and Transportation Services has minimized the number of issued fines and relocated approximately 100 cars, said Cathy Reeve, director of DPTS. Reeve said there have been fewer towings compared to years past, which she attributes to careful planning and effective communication with students.
"Duke doesn't have the significant number and size of events that many campuses do. It's challenging to a campus when you have a set number of spaces and a large demand," Reeve said. "We try to do a good job to educate and remind people."
Many students specifically complained about having to move their cars for the Rolling Stones concert Oct. 8., which fell during Fall Break.
For the event-the biggest event Duke has hosted in recent memory-DPTS organized special parking arrangements. Driving 70 semitrucks and over-the-road coaches, the Stones' crew had less than 24 hours to set up three different stages and a beer garden, Reeve added.
DPTS initially included information in its weekly e-mails notifying students to relocate their cars in IM 7 parking lot of the Blue Zone Oct. 1. When DPTS found out the Stones required lots 1, 3 and 5 of the IM area Oct. 5, signs were put up and e-mails were sent out to students the next day, Reeve said.
DPTS asked students to remove their cars from IM 1 and 7 by noon and from IM 3 and 5 by 7 p.m. Oct 7.
Despite all notification efforts, 52 vehicles were tagged to be towed Oct. 7-all from IM 1, 3 and 5. Many students who were towed explained they left early for Fall Break before receiving e-mail notices Oct. 6. No cars were towed from IM 7, from which students had known to relocate their cars a week earlier.
Duke Parking waited until 7 p.m. before relocating cars from IM 3 and 5, Reeve said. "We still have a little bit of issue in terms of the Rolling Stones concert," Reeve said. "When we don't get all the information up front, we can't give it to the students."
Big John's Towing and Recovery and Lee's Towing-Duke's contracted towing companies-relocated vehicles with Blue Zone permits to the lot on the corner of Campus Drive and Anderson Street.
DPTS created a $100 event parking violation fine to "encourage people to get out," Reeve said, adding that it will honor appeals from students who left Duke before receiving a notice.
For relocated cars during all special events, DPTS also adds a $75 towing and $20 storage fee to the student's fine. Towing companies will reimburse for any damages incurred during relocation.
"A lot of students are upset they are towed, and they'll try to make up damages, [so] we try to note all damages prior to towing," said Renee Adkins, special events coordinator for DPTS, adding that usually the same "repeat offenders or frequent flyers" get towed. "If one of the tow companies does damage a vehicle, they pay for it to be fixed."
For decades, parking in the IM lots of the Blue Zone has been reserved for the Iron Dukes during football games. Students must relocate their cars the night before a home football game; they can move back into the Blue Zone after the game has started.
The long-standing trade off for a Blue Zone pass is having to relocate their vehicles on weekends, Reeve added.
"At some point in time, whenever you have an event on campus, someone will have to be impacted," Reeve said. "I understand that students get frustrated with it, but we realize that we have a lot of different demands on this campus that we do have to try to meet."
Brown said she was not aware of the event parking situation when she purchased a Blue Zone pass.
Nonetheless, she said DPTS has made appropriate efforts to publicize the process. "The notices are helpful. I've received them in advance," Brown said.
"But I can see how it would be a problem if you were already out of town or something," she added.
Guard also said he had received information about the parking policies before getting a ticket. "I knew the rules and just didn't follow them," he said.
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