Eliyahu Gasson | editor-in-chief

Monday was more than just the start of Duquesne University’s semester. It was the first day of a new parking system in the Forbes, Locust and Chatham garages.

The new system announced in an email sent out to students on May 22, introduces new policies and technology designed to ensure there is enough parking on and around campus. Work was carried out over the summer, and the new policies went into effect on the first day of classes.

The updates are intended to make parking on campus easier and more available for permit holders.

“We know that in previous years, for the first few weeks of classes, sometimes that’s been more challenging,” said Scott Richards, vice president of Auxiliary Services, which oversees parking on campus.

To handle the surge of cars during the beginning of the semester, parking attendants are directing drivers to the Chatham Center garage on Fifth Avenue, a section of which has been allocated toward Duquesne permit holders.

This year, the university has stopped offering valet services, which was done by parking garage employees. Last year, The Duke reported that the valet had parked cars on campus outside the garage, and had been directed to park in areas not usually occupied by parked cars like A-Walk — causing confusion and tardiness.

“That happened when we were maxed out in the garage. And now without valeting, we have a community partner, which is a quick walk right up the hill to the elevators,” Richards said.

The garages are exclusively available to permit holders between 12 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Commuters or visitors without passes can park in the Chatham garage during those times for an hourly rate.

Colored lights now line the ceilings in the parking garages on campus — green to indicate spots are available, red to signal they are occupied and blue to quickly indicate to drivers that a spot is reserved for people with disabilities. Richards said each light has a camera on opposite sides, with those cameras being able to sense three to four cars each. If both cameras on a light sense all parking bays they cover are full, the light will turn red to let drivers know that those parking spots are occupied.

Data from the cameras is also fed to an online system that’s accessible on the Duquesne Portal and the Duquesne app. Currently, motorists can see how much room is available in Forbes and Locust, with plans to also show the capacity in the nearby Chatham Center parking garage.

Student Government Association President Nick Miller said the student reaction to the parking updates has been minimal, having heard only a few complaints about the time it takes to find a spot in the garage and the speed at which Forbes and Chatham reach capacity.

“But that’s how it was last year,” he said. “Everybody’s good with how it’s going, and they want to keep seeing what the impacts are.”

Miller said he intends to ask SGA members about the parking updates at their first senate meeting on Sep. 10 in room 119 of the Student Union.

Eliyahu Gasson can be reached at gassone@duq.edu