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And there have been problems.
I work at a university as a contract Visitor Parking attendant. The parking company I work for has a contract with the university.
Because Visitor Parking is under construction, Visitor Parking has moved to the first level of the faculty/staff garage, which is adjacent to Visitor Parking. There is only one entrance gate & one exit gate at that garage. I work inside an air conditioned booth. The visitor parking garage which is under construction is located behind the booth. The faculty/staff garage is located to the right of the booth. The customer pulls up to the booth window, & they have to go to the left to enter that garage after I raise the gate at the booth.
For this post the new visitor parking area will be called visitor parking/faculty staff.
The main person involved in this post is Andrea *not her real name*, who is the Director of Parking & Transportation. She is the client supervisor.
My responsibilities as a Visitor Parking attendant, according to Andrea:
For visitor parking/faculty staff:
Visitors & guests cannot park in any spot that says reserved or has a number. I have to give anyone arriving to park in visitor parking a visitor parking pass. That pass has to be date stamped with the current date & with a stamp stating the parking office & the universities name. The color of the visitor parking pass changes daily. The pass has to be displayed on the driver side dashboard face up. Failure to display the pass results in a citation, & campus police have already written citations. Campus police have also written citations for visitors who either park in a parking spot that says reserved or that is numbered.
Problems:
First, visitor parking/faculty staff has 4 levels. Levels 2 through 4 are only for faculty/staff. The parking office & campus police do not want any faculty/staff member who does not have a parking permit to park on the first level, which is visitor parking, to park in a spot specifically for a visitor. When the visitor parking garage, which is currently under construction, was open, the parking office would allow faculty/staff members who could not find a spot in the faculty/staff garage to park in visitor parking. That has changed. The faculty/staff member has to park at any university owned parking lot or at the faculty/staff parking garage at the college of business. Campus police have already written citations for faculty/staff members who park in a spot specifically for a visitor.
Second, the machine that you insert your $5.00 token into does not work even though it was programmed to after it was moved from the visitor parking exit gate to the visitor parking/facutly staff exit gate. So according to Andrea my first priority is to watch the exit gate for anyone who is having problems exiting. I am also to watch the exit gate for anyone who is speaking at the call box at the visitor parking/faculty staff exit gate. This is because the person may not know where to pay for their parking, & I have to show them where to. Whenever anyone presses the call box at that gate, the call directly goes to campus police, who then transfer the call to the parking office. I do not know why the parking office cannot assist the customer. Plus there have been times that I could not tell if the customer at the exit gate was a visitor or a faculty/staff member.
Third, the garage that is closed for construction is not entirely blocked off. There is a fence around the garage, but there is an opening where deliveries are made. Plus there is a big sign stating the name of the construction company working inside the garage that is easily seen, but we all know that everyone does not always "see" or "look for" signs. Visitors and guests have entered that garage even after I told them not to because that garage is under construction.
Lastly, there are customers who drive around the booth & go directly up to the visitor parking/faculty staff entrace gate. There is a sign posted at the booth that states that all visitors must report to the parking attendant, but we all know that everyone does not always "see" or "look for" a sign. According to Andrea, I am supposed to bring the visitor who drives around the booth a visitor parking pass & tell them where to park at. The problem with this is that visitors & faculty/staff now park in the same garage. So I have no way of telling if someone who does this is a visitor or a faculty/staff member. There are faculty/staff members who do not have their permit displayed in their rear view window, & so there is no way of my knowing that they are a faculty/staff member. The parking office has called me about guests, who have a reserved spot, who drove around the booth & straight up to the visitor parking/faculty staff entrance gate to go up to them, give them a visitor parking pass, & to show them where to park at. This has happened when I was either 1) on the phone with the parking office because they called me or 2) assisting a customer at the window. The guest chose not to wait in line at the booth & to drive around the booth instead. If there is a line of traffic waiting behind the customer at the visitor parking/faculty staff entrance gate, the other cars cannot enter the garage until the guest at the entrace gate enters the garage. The only way the guest can enter the garage is after I get a phone call from the parking office letting me know that there is a guest who has a reserved spot waiting at the entrance gate.
The machine where you insert the token is supposed to be fixed soon.
I was told that construction could last a year to a year and a half.
And there have been problems.
I work at a university as a contract Visitor Parking attendant. The parking company I work for has a contract with the university.
Because Visitor Parking is under construction, Visitor Parking has moved to the first level of the faculty/staff garage, which is adjacent to Visitor Parking. There is only one entrance gate & one exit gate at that garage. I work inside an air conditioned booth. The visitor parking garage which is under construction is located behind the booth. The faculty/staff garage is located to the right of the booth. The customer pulls up to the booth window, & they have to go to the left to enter that garage after I raise the gate at the booth.
For this post the new visitor parking area will be called visitor parking/faculty staff.
The main person involved in this post is Andrea *not her real name*, who is the Director of Parking & Transportation. She is the client supervisor.
My responsibilities as a Visitor Parking attendant, according to Andrea:
- Assist the customer & tell them where to park at. For the new customers or guests who have a reservation to park in Visitor Parking since Visitor Parking is also used for that reason, I have to walk outside the booth, show the customer where to park at, & raise the gate with the card reader I was given.
- Do a space count at 7 a.m. after I clock in & at 12 p.m.
- Show customers who cannot find the vending machine which gives you a $5.00 token, which is used to exit the garage. I have to literally leave the booth & show the customer where it is, which is inside the glass elevator lobby on the first level.
- Show any VIPs, such as guests arriving for events, meetings, & so on sponsored by the President's office, where to park at. I have been told by Andrea at times that I have to leave the booth, go inside the garage, & show the guest where to park at.
For visitor parking/faculty staff:
Visitors & guests cannot park in any spot that says reserved or has a number. I have to give anyone arriving to park in visitor parking a visitor parking pass. That pass has to be date stamped with the current date & with a stamp stating the parking office & the universities name. The color of the visitor parking pass changes daily. The pass has to be displayed on the driver side dashboard face up. Failure to display the pass results in a citation, & campus police have already written citations. Campus police have also written citations for visitors who either park in a parking spot that says reserved or that is numbered.
Problems:
First, visitor parking/faculty staff has 4 levels. Levels 2 through 4 are only for faculty/staff. The parking office & campus police do not want any faculty/staff member who does not have a parking permit to park on the first level, which is visitor parking, to park in a spot specifically for a visitor. When the visitor parking garage, which is currently under construction, was open, the parking office would allow faculty/staff members who could not find a spot in the faculty/staff garage to park in visitor parking. That has changed. The faculty/staff member has to park at any university owned parking lot or at the faculty/staff parking garage at the college of business. Campus police have already written citations for faculty/staff members who park in a spot specifically for a visitor.
Second, the machine that you insert your $5.00 token into does not work even though it was programmed to after it was moved from the visitor parking exit gate to the visitor parking/facutly staff exit gate. So according to Andrea my first priority is to watch the exit gate for anyone who is having problems exiting. I am also to watch the exit gate for anyone who is speaking at the call box at the visitor parking/faculty staff exit gate. This is because the person may not know where to pay for their parking, & I have to show them where to. Whenever anyone presses the call box at that gate, the call directly goes to campus police, who then transfer the call to the parking office. I do not know why the parking office cannot assist the customer. Plus there have been times that I could not tell if the customer at the exit gate was a visitor or a faculty/staff member.
Third, the garage that is closed for construction is not entirely blocked off. There is a fence around the garage, but there is an opening where deliveries are made. Plus there is a big sign stating the name of the construction company working inside the garage that is easily seen, but we all know that everyone does not always "see" or "look for" signs. Visitors and guests have entered that garage even after I told them not to because that garage is under construction.
Lastly, there are customers who drive around the booth & go directly up to the visitor parking/faculty staff entrace gate. There is a sign posted at the booth that states that all visitors must report to the parking attendant, but we all know that everyone does not always "see" or "look for" a sign. According to Andrea, I am supposed to bring the visitor who drives around the booth a visitor parking pass & tell them where to park at. The problem with this is that visitors & faculty/staff now park in the same garage. So I have no way of telling if someone who does this is a visitor or a faculty/staff member. There are faculty/staff members who do not have their permit displayed in their rear view window, & so there is no way of my knowing that they are a faculty/staff member. The parking office has called me about guests, who have a reserved spot, who drove around the booth & straight up to the visitor parking/faculty staff entrance gate to go up to them, give them a visitor parking pass, & to show them where to park at. This has happened when I was either 1) on the phone with the parking office because they called me or 2) assisting a customer at the window. The guest chose not to wait in line at the booth & to drive around the booth instead. If there is a line of traffic waiting behind the customer at the visitor parking/faculty staff entrance gate, the other cars cannot enter the garage until the guest at the entrace gate enters the garage. The only way the guest can enter the garage is after I get a phone call from the parking office letting me know that there is a guest who has a reserved spot waiting at the entrance gate.
The machine where you insert the token is supposed to be fixed soon.
I was told that construction could last a year to a year and a half.
I hope they make good on the promise to fix the machine, at least. How ridiculous that you have to leave your booth to babysit people who can't figure out where to park.
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