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The dismal parking situation, combined with students' inability to follow parking rules, creates a veritable Petri dish for tows from campus.
The department normally doesn't tow until someone first accrues parking tickets totaling $100 or more, Hultine says. Although a person with three tickets can be towed, the tickets have to be more than 10 business days old, she says. A tow can cost
$125 to $200 or more, not including the tow company fee, because you have to pay off tickets and a $50 excessive violator fee to the department. The fee exists as both a deterrent and as a means of compensating the staff's time for coordinating the tow, Hultline says.
Tow the line The actual dirty work, on the other hand
home-turned-business office with rusted, crushed and broken-down cars filling its adjoining lot.
A crudely constructed plywood ramp ushers car owners into the office of A&M. The denim-clad dispatcher in the next room is protected by a sheet of Plexiglas, installed after a 300-pound man, angry that his car had been towed, threatened to jump over the counter and injure
FIVE MOST PACKED PARKING LOTS DURING THE DAY
Not including the Residence Hall lots, because that's just a given, these lots were found to have 90 to 100 percent of spaces occupied.
1) Lot 50 - Behind JRP
2) Lot 72 - East of Burge Union
3) Lot 33 - South of Lindley Hall
4) Lot 16 - Across from the Union
5) Lot 34 - Across from the Dole
Human Development Center
Source: Parking Department Report compiled by Chance Management Advisors, Inc.
goes to the crew at 501 Maple St. located in North Lawrence. This is A & M Towing's home base — a mobile
her. A half-dead fern situated on a windowsill and yellowed, curling sheets of paper saying "I Love You Mommy" decorate the otherwise austere surroundings. When the weather gets colder it takes a while for the four stovetop burners to heat the place.
For the past six years, Andy Moon and his wife, Michelle, have owned and operated A&M Towing, which stands for Andy and Michelle. Andy
is a man with a cheerful personality, grease under his fingernails and a love of what he does. Normally, hooking up
a vehicle to a wrecker takes only five to ten minutes for tow truck drivers, but for Andy, it takes even less time. A well-practiced professional, he expertly maneuvers around any vehicle, adeptly hooking safety chains around the tires to his tow truck, or wrecker, and placing tow lights on the rear with precision.
Every once in a while, an owner will catch him in the act, Moon says. At this point the owner can get the car released for half the price of the tow, but it's at the tow truck driver's discretion. Andy has 20 years of experience in the towing industry and has seen and heard just about everything. He says women react in four stages. First, they cry. Second, they try hitting on him. Third, they go angry and cuss him out. Finally they accept and pay.
Andy Moon, and his wife Michelle, have owned and operated A&M Towing for six years. The University contractually requires A&M Towing to only charge students $30 for towing, keeping costs minimal for cash-strapped students.
"People think we're the bad guys. I mean, I feel bad taking someone's car, but I'm not the one who got those tickets," Moon says.
In its contract with A&M Towing, the parking department requires that the company charge only $30 for towing from campus and no storage fees for the first two days. Afterwards, it is $5 a day. A&M Towing normally charges $125 for tows from private property and $30 a day for storage. Other companies charge
Keeping it real
between $80 and $125 to tow from a private property and include a $20 to $30 daily fee to store cars.
"There's some pretty high towing costs out there. We try to keep it at $30 so we don't add insult to injury, it's probably the best for students," Hultine says.
In actuality, what's best for students is adopting a realistic outlook on the parking situation at the University. There may not be a lot of spaces available, but that's a fact and something they have to deal with.
Houghton thought she had learned her lesson. But just last week she found herself running late again to her 9 a.m. class. She rationalized that because the class was only 50 minutes long, the department couldn't get a tow truck that fast. She was wrong.
was wrong.
She says she doesn't harbor any ill will toward the department or A&M Towing.
"I just wish I could stop running late," Houghton says.