After numerous complaints regarding an increase in ticketing on campus, SGA and Parking Services are considering on-campus locations for students to legally be dropped off.
"Well it's been a rule for at least 15 years and it was enforced up until six years ago on a regular basis," said Don Andrae, manager of Parking Services, regarding the current traffic law. "The reason it was done at that time was because there was an actual Auburn University police department and the administration decided to contract the police enforcement out to the City of Auburn.
"When they did that, the enforcement of that policy kind of slipped to the wayside because they didn't tell the Auburn police, 'Hey, you're supposed to be checking for this.'"
Andrae said he has received negative feedback about to the law.
"The way the policy is worded is that an area designated as the central campus, which is the area bounded by Magnolia on the North, Samford on the South, Donahue on the West and College on the East and anywhere inside of that, no vehicles--unless they have an A or B permit and RQ for the quad--were allowed to be in that area," Andrae said.
SGA President-elect Owen Parrish said setting up the drop-off locations was part of his platform for president and finishing the project will continue to be a concern of his.
"The biggest thing that we have done is started working with Mr. Andrae to try and set up some on-campus drop-off locations," Parrish said.
"These would be where students are allowed to drop their friends off and pick their friends up quickly from class with probably a 30-second time limit on it, but it would be a place where we could still do the on-campus drop-offs."
Several areas have been proposed, but Parrish said the most popular locations are by the Comer parking lot and close to the former Parking Services parking lot.
"We're hoping for two (locations)," Parrish said. "I brought it up at the traffic and parking committee, and what we agreed to do is to have a traffic consultant for the University look at traffic patterns and see if those parking lots or any other places can handle the traffic--if it would be detrimental to the traffic flow in general and then we will go ahead and make the final decision."
While nothing is for certain, Parrish said he hopes to have everything established by the beginning of summer or fall semester.
"Right now if you're observant on campus while you drive around, and I didn't notice this until (Andrae) told me to look for it, but on Mell Street and a couple places throughout campus there are pretty big signs that say no entry for passes other than A or B," Parrish said.
"So what we would do is move those signs past the drop- off points so that people with C hang tags or no hang tags at all could still drive on that University-owned street and drop off there."
Andrae said he understands that students want a more practical way to be dropped off and that finding the right locations takes time.
"We know the students are not happy with the fact that they can't drop their friends off inside that area, and we understand that because you can go down Quad Drive and drop someone off right at the Student Center," Andrae said.
"Another big area is War Eagle Way, being in front of the Lowder Building area. That's a place where people want to drop a lot of students off and we understand it makes it convenient.
We understand that parking is terrible on the campus and that it makes it better if you can come on campus and drop somebody off."
Robert Garcia, member of freshman forum and freshman in finance, has been involved with the traffic and parking services committee throughout the process and said students need designated places to drop off while still following commensense rules.
"I think they will be well-received," Garcia said. "Maybe not 100 percent, but the thing is right now since there is no place where you can effectively and legally drop off, if you designate a place where you can drop off and a place where you won't have to worry about getting ticketed and it's a convenient place, once we designate places like that students will be able to use it and I think it will be effective."
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