Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

January 16, 2004

Dean of parking

Doug Houghton is pleased with the campus' first parking "deck," which opened last month south of East Hall. Photo by Bob Elbert.

by Karen Bolluyt
Doug Houghton's business card reads "Captain." To qualify for his job in the department of public safety, he passed a 12-week, police officer training course at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy at Camp Dodge. And sometimes he dons a police uniform and directs traffic at campus events.

But most of the time, he is Iowa State's parking guy.

Permits. Fees. Fines. Plans. New lots. Snow removal. Appeals. The buck stops with him.

Houghton became the parking division's manager in 1996. His department is at the halfway point of a five-year parking plan. The campus master plan calls for a pedestrian campus, meaning there will be limited traffic and limited parking for core buildings. Increases in the number of people in core buildings can cause a little creative tension between the two plans.

"We have enough parking stalls, but they are not always where people want them to be," Houghton said.

He said, too, that the situation is improving. Students gained a thousand parking spaces when more lots were added around Jack Trice stadium. Ridership on the CyRide orange route shuttle from the Iowa State Center lots has gone from 200 a day in the early '90s to 2,500 today. The shuttle is wholly subsidized by the parking division to reduce parking pressure closer to central campus.

Houghton also hears appeals, approximately 400 every year. Most people who carry their appeals to the second step, to him, know they have violated a rule but "have a story they want to tell," he said.

A tale of woe and bad luck may win the day. But more likely grounds for a successful appeal are such things as confusing signage or construction changes that make it difficult to identify legitimate parking stalls.

Houghton said division employees are alert in ways that are "almost astounding." They recognize vehicles that belong and vehicles that may not. Recently, a student employee was doing a walking search for lost, stolen or counterfeited permits and noticed that two permits in the same lot had the same ID number. One was an excellent counterfeit.

Game for a good idea
Houghton himself is on the alert for good ideas. He recalls the first single-level parking deck he saw, at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. He is especially pleased with the 400-stall version Iowa State finished in the southeast corner of campus last month. Because the site slopes, both levels were built on grade, eliminating the need for an elevator and reducing the cost to $7,500 per stall.

Another good idea, unless one is not all that thrilled about efficient ticket writing, is the electronic, hand-held ticket writers carried by enforcement staff.

Sure-fire good ideas for Iowa Staters are the free services provided by the department: the Help Van for drivers with flat tires, empty gas tanks and dead batteries; rides from the student health center to McFarland Clinic or Mary Greeley Medical Center; parking accommodations for campus visitors; safety escorts (in cooperation with the campus police); and bike parking and paths. His staff also assists with one-of-a-kind dilemmas, like the employee whose asthma prevents her from walking long distances in extremely cold weather.

"We see ourselves as a service organization," he said, more than once.

The 40 to 50 students providing that service get more than a paycheck, according to Houghton. They develop an appreciation for others in service jobs. And they learn there often is a "story behind the story" and not to hold too tightly to first impressions. There may be an unexpected story behind the car that doesn't belong, the appealed ticket, the written complaint.

The legality of it all
Houghton's degrees are in history and law and he is a licensed attorney.

History . . . law . . . parking?

There is a logic, Houghton said. He came to Iowa State to run student legal services. After two years, he joined the dean of student's office as an advocate for students in trouble. In that position, he was the hearing officer for parking ticket appeals. In 1996, he transferred out of student affairs and took on the job of managing the parking division. With it came on-the-job training in asphalt, concrete and snow removal.

He maintains his law license, which means he goes to conferences for lawyers, as well as conferences for parking system experts.

After hearing jokes about lawyers for a day or two, parking seems like a good career move, he said.

Iowa State's Honors program calls upon Houghton's law background. He and an assistant public defender teach an Honors course on campus legal issues.

"When we look at freedom of speech, for example, it is in the context of free speech zones or other issues that come up on this campus," he explained.

Houghton's big decisions, in dollar terms, regard new construction and where to spend pavement maintenance funds. Campus-wide discussion precedes those decisions. But, individual decisions about the parking needs of one person are big, too.

"Improving service is the goal. We need good campus-wide planning. We also need good attention to individuals," he said.

Did you know?

(Stats from the parking division)

Budget: $2.7 million (divided roughly in thirds for operating expenses, payroll, and debt service and major projects)

Full-time employees: 9

Part-time student employees: 40-50

Revenue from permits and fees: $1 million

Revenue from fines: $1 million

Revenue from meters, special events parking, etc.: $700,000

Tuition dollars, tax dollars used to fund parking: 0

Number of permits sold: 30,000

Types of permits sold: 39

Tickets issued per year: 110,000

Percent of tickets appealed: 8

Percent cancelled based on appeals: 4

Collection rate: 95 percent

Days of the week most tickets issued: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

Time of day most tickets issued: 4-5 p.m.

Market value of jump starts provided by Help Van last year: $44,000

Next parking structure: likely to be on west campus