Parking meter transition underway

New paid parking systems in the Art Building and Shattuck Hall parking lots on campus, installed in September, are getting positive marks from Portland State administration and students alike.

The new system allows parkers to purchase a ticket for a specific vehicle and has new features such as allowing parkers to use text messaging to add more time.

The parking lots operate on a pay-by-plate system. When people park their cars in one of these lots, they enter their license plate number into the machines and display a ticket with their plate number on the dashboard.

Patrol officers use a handheld device to detect whether a customer has paid. All they have to do is type in the car’s license plate number, making it more convenient than checking for a receipt through the front window.

Tyler Herman, an economics major and senior, 28, feels that the system is convenient for students who park on campus.

“It’s a much better system because it keeps people from having to run to their car to get a little extra time, because they need to run to the library for a book or something like that,” Herman said.

Brittany Mohr, 19, a film production junior, has used the new system a few times. She liked that she didn’t have to worry about a ticket getting lost or stolen from her window.

“I’ve never reaped the benefits [of texting] them for more time, but it was nice,” Mohr said. “It was better than the other parking meter systems.”

Sarah Renkens, PSU’s director of Transportation and Parking Services, feels that the new parking meters will ease visitors’ and students’ experiences at PSU.

“Anything we do in parking is to provide a good experience,” Renkens said. “We know students don’t come here for the parking, but we hope it leaves a good first impression.”

According to Renkens, the old parking meters suffered from errors including paper jams, not detecting low paper and inability to read data. The new machines can detect low paper supply and have reporting functions.

“They’re a lot more reliable,” she said.

One of the reporting functions in the pay-by-plate system allows parking services to detect how many users park regularly. About 82 percent of people who park in Shattuck are one-time users.

For now, there are pay-by-plate systems only in the Shattuck and Art Building lots because parking services wants to finish repairs now underway in Parking Structure 1 this summer before expanding. PS1 is slated to go to the pay-by-plate system in time for fall term.

“They’re smaller than the other ones, and we wanted to start it small,” Renkens said.

Money from permit sales goes toward parking services’ operating expenses. These expenses include debt payments, parking garage maintenance, equipment and supply purchases and maintenance, labor costs, and money sums for student and employee transit passes.

The cost of these new machines was $12,000 per machine, plus installation fees. Parking in the Art Building lot is $3 an hour or $11 a day, and $4 on Saturdays. The lot in Shattuck charges $4 an hour or $12 a day, and $6 on Saturdays. Text message fees are 25 cents per time extension.