In response to this semester's parking permit fiasco, big changes will be coming for Georgia State students who park on campus next semester, according to the Parking and Transportation division of Auxiliary and Support Services.
Parking and Transportation say they have not only taken steps to avoid a second parking website crash but also to plan parking lot improvements and an expansion of parking facilities within the next six months.
The Georgia State Parking and Transportation website for students to purchase paid parking passes crashed earlier this semester when the system experienced "overwhelming volume," according to Chris Connelly, manager of marketing and outcome assessments for Parking and Transportation.
Designed to accommodate 4,000 visits per day, on the day of the crash the site recorded over 100,000 hits, Connelly said. He added that a new wait list has been implemented to guard against a second system crash.
Students will have multiple dates to join the list, and then random selections will be made. How- ever, news regarding the list has been slow getting out, and most students seem to not be aware of its implementation.
"To get a semester permit is almost impossible," James Kim, senior accounting major, said. "Yet I expect improvements will come with extra student fees and no one really wants that."
However, several improvements will take place in the spring, according to Wayne E. Reed, the assistant vice president for Auxiliary and Support Services.
For starters, the M-Deck parking structure will be repaired. Further, new signs will be added including new digital capacity indicators, stair wells will be painted, the elevator on the top floor will be enclosed and parking spaces will be restriped.
The department is also implementing new technology, including a means to recognize individual cars as they enter Georgia State's parking decks.
The Automated Vehicle Identification (AVI) system, will eliminate the need for students to hold passes out of the vehicle window. Instead, AVI will automatically scan the pass from inside the car.
"AVI is targeted at improving entry and exit times by as much as 33 percent," Reed said.
One of the most exciting prospects for Georgia State commuters is the recent acquisition of the Sun Trust Bank Building by the university, which will pro- vide 1,400 additional parking spaces for students.
Connelly said he wanted to assure students that Parking and Transportation is actively working to im- prove student parking at Georgia State.
"The university has recently selected consultants who will be working to review our current Parking and Transportation operations in contrast with those of other similar urban universities," he said. "[The consultants] will make a number of recommendations for improvements based on best practices ... and to develop a ten-year master plan for Parking and Transportation at Georgia State."
While there has been some frustration among the student body over parking at Georgia State, many students think they have been more than patient.
"I feel that Georgia State is doing the best they can with the limited space they have to work with," Brandi Anderson, a graduate history student, said.
Yet Anderson said Georgia State has not done the best to communicate with him.
"I didn't know there was a wait list."
Alternative parking options (if you missed the Nov. 10-16 wait list deadline)
1. Sign up for a free parking pass at Turner Field and use the shuttle.
2. Purchase a semester parking pass from third party parking lots around campus, including the Hurt Plaza Parking Garage.
3. Try to find open parking spaces at lots along J.W. Dobbs Avenue, Peachtree Center Avenue, Piedmont Avenue or Decatur Street. Additional parking may also be found to the east of Broad Street.
4. Underground Atlanta and Grady Hospital both offer parking within a few blocks of Georgia State.
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