Changes ease parking struggle

Parking at FIU is often considered a fate worse than death, but fear not, because help is on the way this semester.

No more standing in line for a decal

The PG-5 Market Station is located on the north side of campus, next to Red Garage

First, say goodbye to the parking decal, because the Department of Parking & Transportation has introduced a virtual parking permit system. The virtual permit is linked to a car’s license plate, and registration with FIU can be done completely online. The need to wait in line to receive a parking sticker or wait for it in the mail has been eliminated. However, customer care representatives are still on staff in the Parking & Transportation office, located in the PG-5 Market Station, to assist with registration.

Parking & Transportation enforcement will scan the license plate on a car to determine the car’s permit status. If it is parked in a space in which it doesn’t belong, an e-citation or e-warning will be issued electronically on the car owner’s Parking & Transportation account and via their FIU email; however, if the car is not registered with FIU, the citation will be mailed to the address listed on the car’s registration.

The virtual system will also simplify the process of obtaining a temporary parking pass for campus visitors. Departments within the university will have portals through which they can pre-register their visitors’ license plates to park in student spaces. In the event that a visitor’s plate is not pre-registered, a one-hour grace period allows for the department to go into the portal and correct the error before a citation is issued.

The electronic system will also allow the FIU community to sign up for text and email notifications about parking situations, such as lots needing to be cleared for sports games. The virtual permits allow the department to track where individual people tend to park, so the notifications can be targeted to specific drivers, rather than alerting the entire FIU community when certain spaces need to be vacated.

“Our goal is to put parking and transportation services at the fingertips of our community,” said Executive Director of Parking & Transportation Thomas Hartley.

Some members of the FIU community were disappointed to see the stickers go, though.

“The stickers may have been a pain to scrape off the car every year, but I really liked being able to drive down the highway and pick out all the other Panthers on the road,” said alumna Wilnette Ortega ’15. “I just graduated, and the stickers always made me feel like I was part of a community among the millions of people in South Florida.”

No more parking space struggles

An electronic sign automatically updates as cars enter and exit PG-6 to let drivers know where to park

Hunting for that coveted parking spot should be easier this year, as Parking & Transportation is introducing car counters in the garages at the Modesto Maidique Campus. The counters keep track of cars entering and exiting garages, as well as their plates’ permit status, and automatically update on an electronic sign that tells drivers how many staff, student and administrative spaces are available in the garage.

As of the first week of school, only the newest garage, PG-6, will have a car counter. But as the semester progresses, each garage will be equipped with the system. The opening of PG-6 also means there are an extra 2,000 parking spaces at MMC, increasing the total number of spaces between MMC, BBC and the Engineering Center to 16,000.

Other updates from Parking & Transportation include:

• A new app and a redesigned, mobile-friendly website, both which handle citation payments and appeals, permit purchases, parking space locators, interactive campus maps and more
• Car2Go, a campus car-sharing program for students and employees
• A 20-percent increase in the number of Golden Panther Express trips between campuses, as well as departures every half-hour from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Fridays (with additional Friday departures at 8:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.)
• Real-time tracking and estimated arrivals for buses and shuttles that go between the campuses on mobile devices with TransLoc
• 40-times faster WiFi on the buses and shuttles that go between campuses
• Pay-By-Phone and Pay-By-Plate services for metered parking spaces
• Electrical vehicle charging stations at MMC and the Engineering Center
• Temporary parking spaces available for students, faculty and staff during the first two weeks of school at Tamiami Park (east of the Stadium) and on the northeast corner of campus to the east of PG-5
• Additional Panther Movers and shuttle services. Shuttles will run only during peak hours from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. For a map of shuttle routes and pickup locations, click here