Parking Fines Revisited

• By: Tia Khalil – Deputy Editor-In-Chief

AUC’s Chief Security Officer General Mohamed Ebeid has outlined a series of stricter policies to deal with the lack of adequate parking spaces at the New Cairo campus.

In an email sent to the university community on October 6, he focused on four approaches as temporary solutions: ID scanning, regulating visitor access and private drivers on campus, and increasing parking fines.

The urgent need for change was prompted after an immense increase in the number of vehicles entering and parking on campus, resulting infrustrated students, staff, and faculty unable to find spots.

“Weareinaloopandweareallaf- fected by one another because of the lack of structure,” said Malak Nowier, a Marketing senior.

“Sometimes I’m late to my own 10 am class that I teach because of the crowded university parking. It’s nearly impossible to find a parking spot after 9 am,” said Mohamed Hussain, a computer science professor.

Ebeid advised all those driving to prepare their IDs at the entry gates to speed up the process, and this would allow for data collection on the vehicles that enter throughout the day.

Visitors are instructed to enter the campus through either gate one or five, and drivers are asked to exit campus immediately after drop-off.

Amidst these solutions, parking fines have increased and will be im- plemented on those who repeatedly violate the regulations.

Those who park incorrectly disregarding the designated parking boundaries and park their vehicles overnight will face an EGP 600 fine. Those who park in unauthorized spaces such as sidewalks and greenery will be fined EGP 1,200. Cars that park in designated parking spaces that block access to fire hydrants, clinic ambulance spaces, and those allocated to community members with disabilities will be fined EGP 3000.

A security guard who asked to re- main anonymous told The Caravan that despite the implementation of these new rules, students still commit parking violations.

He explained with a heavy sense of irritation in his voice that students aren’t cooperating when asked to park somewhere else or submit their IDs if they receive a violation.

As per the university’s carpooling initiative, the security office urged the AUC community to partake in carpooling or riding the bus, to minimize traffic on campus. To bolster this initiative, they’re dedicating spots near the gates for parking for those who carpool.