Drivers with Disabilities

OUR GOAL:

Our goal is to work together with customers to make parking more accessible for people with disabilities.  Abuse of ADA parking stalls is a major concern all across the country. ADA placards and disabled license plates are an accommodation for customers that need close parking.  There are a number of customers that use placards or disabled plates that don’t belong to them, or park in an ADA stall while they wait to pick up an able-bodied customer after class.  This type of abuse occupies a valuable parking space from someone that needs that accommodation.  As an institution with a significant number of customers that need accessible parking, we have a duty to ensure enough parking is available. A parking placard or plate is ONLY valid when being used by the person with the disability or someone who is driving the person with the disability. The state statutes allow institutions of higher education to require additional permitting to reduce abuse of these spaces.  As a result:

UT Arlington requires disabled persons to have three credentials to park in the ADA stall:

1. A state-issued placard or plate registered to the driver or occupant of the vehicle
2. UTA will verify ownership with the DMV and then issue the customer an e-ADA permit
3. A paid UTA-issued student, faculty/staff, or short-term parking permit. Hourly meters count as a short-term parking permit.

UT Arlington requires Disabled Veterans to have three credentials to park in the ADA stall:

1. A state-issued placard or plate registered to the driver or occupant of the vehicle
2. UTA will verify ownership with the DMV and then issue the customer an e-DV permit
3. A complimentary UTA-issued student or faculty/staff permit

For a complete list of benefits and parking requirements, see our Disabled Veteran and Disabled Person section of our rules and regulations.

BETTER ACCESS

To reduce abuse of these spaces and ensure parking is available when need, PATS enforcement officers regularly enforce the ADA stalls.  

If the plate/placard ownership has not been verified with the DMV, PATS will issue a $250 citation to the driver. The driver will then have 14 days to submit a copy of the placard serial number or license plate to PATS for verification. If the ownership is confirmed, the $250 citation will be dismissed and PATS will issue an e-DV permit or e-ADA permit.  If the driver or occupant is not the owner of the plate/placard, the $250 citation will be upheld.

Additionally, PATS enforcement officers will be in parking lots to inspect temporary placards with the driver/occupant. Temporary placards include the registered owner’s initials in the serial number.  This allows staff to verify ownership or abuse quickly.  As a reminder: A parking placard or plate is ONLY valid when being used by the person with the disability or someone who is driving the person with the disability. 

The goal with this enforcement is to ensure that enough accessible parking stalls are available to meet the campus demand.  Once the placard/plate is issued, the customer will need to renew the e-permit annually.  They can do this through the permit-purchase process within MavPark by selecting the checkbox that states “Do you require a disability permit?”.  If selected, an upload box will appear, allowing the customer to upload a copy of the plate/placard for PATS staff to verify with the DMV.