Back to school means back to parking mayhem for more than 28,000 Sacramento State students who search through a sea of cars while trying to make it to class on time.

University Transportation and Parking Services were busy throughout the first week of classes writing citations for vehicles that were in violation of parking policy. Last semester, citations were not issued during the first week of classes, but this policy has changed.

Devon Buckley, a sophomore at Sac State was surprised to find a parking violation slip on her car windshield.

“I don’t have the money to pay for a parking ticket after buying books and everything,” Buckley said.

This year UTAPS began fining students on the third day of classes. Nancy Fox, manager of UTAPS, said that in past semesters students have abused the courtesy policy.

“We found that people abused the parking courtesy being extended to them by continuing to park in inappropriate areas, even after purchasing their parking permit,” according to Fox’s written statement.

The price of a parking permit remained the same this semester at $108. Compared to several California State Universities, Sac State ranks the highest in the fee charged for permits. According to Fox, permit fees are set by the president of the university.

San Francisco State charges $81, but only sells permits to students that live on campus. Chico State charges $72 and also has a limit on the amount of permits sold.

Unlike Chico, Sac State does not have a cap policy and last semester the university sold 19,311 permits. Sac State has a total of 8,129 student parking spaces.

Plans are currently underway to build a third parking structure this summer. This structure would create an additional 3,200 parking spaces, making it the largest in the CSU system. But the new construction will temporarily eliminate 802 of the current spaces.

Bicycling, carpooling and riding the bus are alternative forms of transportation suggested by UTAPS to help ease traffic congestion on campus. Students can ride the bus for free by using their OneCard.

At the corner of Cadillac Drive and Fair Oaks Boulevard, Sac State students park along side the curb in a community of apartments and businesses before catching the bus to the university.

“I don’t want to pay for parking fees,” said senior Pablo Kutter, who parks his car off campus before catching the bus.

Several lots including parking structures I and II were full throughout the morning and afternoon hours during the first week of school. Many students eventually found a place to park in the overflow section located on the south end of campus.

“People can use the exercise,” said junior Dave Martin, who parked in the overflow lot a good distance from his class in Mendocino Hall.