Two quick facts, only one of which is true:

The first vehicle in Storrs was a 4.5-horsepower Mobile Steamer, driven in 1904 by a mechanical arts instructor at the nascent Connecticut Agricultural College. Within an hour of parking on campus, he’d already received a citation.

The second sentence is, of course, completely false – but given the sensitivities surrounding parking on college campuses, maybe you paused for a moment and entertained that it might contain a nugget of truth.

That’s OK. Parking permits and enforcement on the University of Connecticut’s campuses isn’t the stuff of groundbreaking scientific research, high graduation rates, or championship athletic banners. But it’s a necessary piece of the puzzle that helps UConn achieve those and other goals, and an obligation we approach in the spirit of ensuring fairness amid space constraints.

A recent op-ed in this publication expressed opinions about the process as it relates to commuter students, calling it “punitive and costly” and “an important revenue source” for the university.

Let’s break down the revenues. UConn Parking Services is self-supporting, with its operations funded solely by permit sales, event parking fees, and citation payments. It doesn’t draw from tuition or state funds, and has no impact on academic operations, deficit mitigation, or other parts of the university budget.

However, it does move the needle in a notable way: Net proceeds are transferred annually to the university specifically to help fund financial aid, to the tune of more than $500,000 in a typical fiscal year. Many millions of dollars have been paid to UConn over the years, and in turn allocated to needy students through their financial aid packages.

Gross proceeds from citations, permits, and event parking fees go directly to operation and maintenance of the parking system and repayment of the UConn 2000 bonded debt used to build the South Garage.

In terms of fairness, parking enforcement is necessary to help ensure that UConn’s students, faculty, and staff have access to the spaces for which they bought permits. People who either park without permits or repeatedly violate the rules are taking spaces away from those who reasonably expect to use them.

None of this is to say we’re not sympathetic to the stresses of our students, of course, given the classes, work obligations, and other duties that so many of them juggle. In fact, to encourage voluntary compliance, thousands of the citations issued each year are warnings that carry no fines.

The new “boot” wheel immobilizer deployed this year at Storrs has also received attention, but it’s simply a helpful way of addressing cases when a driver has allowed more than $200 in fines to accrue.

Even then, the driver can simply and immediately pay by phone or online, receive a code to release the boot, and be on their way within minutes with directions to return the boot to a drop box open around the clock.

People who receive citations can also file appeals online, in person, or by mail – and if they are denied, they can appeal that denial if additional facts are available that might be pertinent.

We also work closely with our partners in the Windham Region Transit District regarding on-campus and regional bus availability; with the state Department of Transportation for the U-Pass that lets students ride its public transportation services without fares; and with UConn Police in their efforts to help ensure the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, and scooter users.

A lot has changed since 1904, when Professor J.N. Fitts introduced the automobile to Storrs.

About 13,000 parking spaces are now on campus, with about 85% of them in use during peak periods. Since that demand can be unevenly distributed across campus, we recently launched the new Modii Smart Parking Finder on our website.

Simply put: It’s very reasonable for students, faculty, and staff with permits to expect access to one of those spaces. But to help make that happen, it’s necessary for UConn to consistently enforce parking rules, getting non-complaint vehicles moving so permit-holders get what they’re paying for.

Andy Kelly is Associate Director of Logistics in charge of parking services in Facilities Operations at the University of Connecticut.