By Melissa Johnson, director, Commuter Services

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Advances in technology and aging equipment prompted a few changes to visitor parking on campus.  Last year the pay lot in the Business Loop became the test case for an improved parking system for visitors.  Instead of taking a ticket upon entering the lot and paying when they leave, visitors now pay upon arrival at automated kiosks strategically located near lot entrances and exits.  No more waiting in line to exit, no more worries about lost tickets and you can pay for a single hour or the entire day.  Guests simply enter their license plate number and swipe a credit card and they are set. They can even add time to their parking session from a cell phone so there is no need to rush out to feed a meter.

Because of the success in the Business Loop, Commuter Services is installing the same parking kiosks in the Union and Student Services pay lots to replace the gates and the attendants. The kiosks will function as the point of contact for purchasing and validating parking for guests and visitors to campus.

There will be two main changes as a result of the new kiosk system:

1. There will no longer be spitter tickets or pay lot attendants, rather customers will purchase their desired time through the kiosk using their license plate and credit card.
2. Sticker validations will no longer be valid in the Business pay lot, Union pay lot, and Student Services pay lot. Instead, departments may purchase “coupon codes” for their visitors.

Remember, kiosks work similarly to a parking meter and payment or a validation must be made to initiate a parking session, not when leaving the pay lot. Vehicles parked in a pay lot with no valid form of payment will be ticketed.

The new kiosks will be installed after commencement and operational on May 16, 2016.

University departments that want to purchase validations or trade in sticker validations should complete an order form and allow 24-48 hours for processing.

Commuter Services will have parking lot attendants on hand through the end of May to help answer questions and explain the new process.  Additionally, you can watch this short video explaining the process.

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[bs_well size=”lg” ]How to use parking kiosks:

• Park in any designated pay space.
• Enter your license plate number and the time you plan to park. If you have a coupon code, enter it as well.
• Pay using a credit card. You will be asked if you want a text message reminder when your parking fee is about to expire. This will allow you to purchase additional time remotely. When purchased by phone, there is an additional 25 cent convenience fee.
• The cost to park is $2 per hour.[/bs_well]

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