Many students are more than familiar with the unpleasant sight of a parking ticket on their windshield - with a shortage of spots and packed class schedules, parking tickets are often a fact of life at UB.
With about 30,000 tickets handed out every year, UB takes in an average of $550,000 from parking violations, according to Chris Austin, a coordinator for the campus parking office.
"That money goes to a variety of services for both parking and transportation," he said. "Part of the funds support the clearing of the parking lots in the winter, the lighting of the campus, clearing walkways and sidewalks."
Other expenses covered by the ticket revenue include repaving, painting new street lines and markers, and replacing old or damaged signage, Austin added.
Austin said the revenue numbers fit in with UB's 78 percent collection rate, which is the ratio of tickets written to tickets paid. UB's ticket revenue is "average for a university with operations of our size," he added.
Yet Ohio University, which has a comparable enrollment to UB's and hands out the same number of tickets, is projecting ticket revenue this year of $350,000.
According to Sherry Barnes, OU director of parking and transportation services, last year's revenue of $425,000 was higher than usual.
"It depends on the infractions," said Barnes, referring to fire lane and handicap space violations, which cost more money. "Every year those change, so your numbers are going to be a little different."
Two other Ohio schools took in much more than UB from parking tickets last year. Kent State and Miami University reaped nearly $1 million, according to officials from both schools.
Kent State, however, handed out 45,000 more tickets than UB did, and Miami's ticket total was nearly 20,000 more.
With the money UB makes from parking tickets, someone could pay four years of tuition for 32 students to go to UB. The half-million dollars is as large as the Student Association's office budget, and twice as large as President Simpson's base salary. With $550,000, UB could afford two Donald Trumps.
Many students said they didn't realize UB's parking ticket revenue would be as high as $550,000, but added they weren't entirely surprised.
"I used to get $100 a semester in tickets, and that's just one student," said senior Brian Lipinoga.
Lipanoga said most of his tickets were simple parking violations that shot up in value when he forgot to pay them.
Junior Kristina Aquilino said UB should either build more lots or enroll fewer students to alleviate the parking problem.
"I drive around for 45 minutes just to find a good parking spot," said Aquilino.
Matt Lyke, a freshman, said the ticket revenue wouldn't be so high if students like himself and Aquilino didn't have to spend nearly an hour to find a spot.
"There's no parking spots, so people make their own," said Lyke.
Lyke added he had a pretty good idea of how UB could solve its troubles in one shot without having to build more parking lots.
"A parking garage. That would be sweet," he said.
According to Austin, UB has offered students parking alternatives like the park and ride system from the Center for Tomorrow.
"We continue to put out the message that there are available spaces in those outlying lots, and it is an alternative to parking illegally and receiving a $20 ticket," he said.
