By: Bianca Dinkha and Ellie Heider
Sasha Santiago, director of campus safety, explained that permits were being handled by different offices, but that there was a lack of communication when handling applications, citations and permits.
Rydin is a third-party platform Dominican is now using to issue parking permits to students. They specialize in parking management, permitting, and more for institutions and industries.
Dominican has always been affiliated with Rydin for issuing permits, but the process used to be less streamlined. Rydin reached out and asked how the distribution of permits was going and Dominican replied that the system has had issues because the process was dependent on human data entry.
“Rydin plans to take care of applications, payments, and home delivery of permits,” said Santiago. “All students and faculty should have received an email from Rydin with instructions on how to apply for a 2023-2024 parking permit. As of Sept. 6, under 100 applications have been completed by students and faculty.”
Before Rydin was introduced, some students experienced parking difficulties during the first week of the semester. Juritmi Rubio, a pre-nursing student, talked about the struggles of parking in the morning.
“There is not much space,” Rubio said. “I get here around 8 a.m. or 11 a.m., around those times. It takes me about 8 minutes to find parking. I park in the parking garage or in front of the school, but I do not really find parking there.”
Most students find parking to be a lengthy process and often must park on the third or fourth floor of the parking garage.
Santiago does not anticipate any issues with parking from now and forward. The process is more manageable with Rydin because campus safety is focusing more on important tasks such as providing permits and issuing tickets.
Santiago also stated the rules have been relaxed in previous years because the permit process was less organized.
Parking tickets are now $25 with no late penalty for regular spaces while disabled spaces are $300. Tickets are physical but can be paid for and appealed online by using Rydin. Students and faculty members have 14 days to appeal their tickets.
The permit is still $50 for commuters and $100 for residents. Up to five cars can be registered with one permit and only one permit can be purchased per student. Permits are not taxed, but they expire on Sept. 1, 2024.
“If everyone could give feedback…we want to make it easier for users to get their permit,” said Santiago. “Any feedback that we can provide Rydin would be very helpful.”
A temporary pass will be issued via email after the payment process is completed while a permanent pass will be sent through the mail to an address of choice.
