Now that winter temperatures have set in, some are willing to go to extremes to stay warm when getting around campus, even if it means parking illegally and paying $15 parking tickets.

ISU Police say the biggest problem has been cars parked in illegal spots.

Capt. Doug Houghton, of ISU Police, said there has not been a significant increase in parking tickets issued this winter, but with the weather being so cold, they have noticed an increase in cars parked in reserved lots.

“There is a greater pressure on parking lots during bad weather,” he said. “Most of the people who are parking illegally are just running in to hand in a paper or check a grade. It’s a five-minute deal, but it still pressures the lot.”

Since the temperatures have been too cold to handle, the Department of Public Safety had to put walking ticket writers in trucks. This gave DPS two people per truck, meaning less time spent looking for illegally parked cars and more time ticketing.

“When you have two [ticket writers] per truck, they can each pick a row and look for parking passes,” Houghton said.

Even with below-zero temperatures, the Memorial Union Parking Ramp hasn’t seen a significant increase in use, said Roger Ferris, Memorial Union operations manager.

Fewer permits have been sold this academic year to students and faculty, and the ramp hasn’t been filling up as it has in years past, he said.

“Why pay 75 cents an hour to park on the ramp when you can ride CyRide for free this semester?” he said.

Many students are doing just that.

On Jan. 15, CyRide had 30,333 passengers, the highest amount in its history, said Tom Davenport, administrative assistant for CyRide. He also said on cold days, CyRide can bring in an extra 3,000 to 4,000 more people than would normally ride.

Davenport said on an average week, CyRide takes about 29,000 people to class.

“On the cold days, the extra people really don’t matter,” he said.

Overall, Davenport said the cold has increased the use of CyRide by 5 to 10 percent, but the fact that the ride is free has increased all routes 28 to 30 percent.

“I actually park at a friend’s apartment and ride the bus to class,” said Erin Nelson, senior in dietetics, who lives in Nevada. “It’s way too cold to walk and not worth the ticket.”