TU Parking to expand garage counting system

By: Caitlyn Freeman, Editor in Chief 

Towson University’s Parking and Transportation Services department plans to expand parking counter systems to additional garages on campus after finding success in the trial program. 

The university began piloting the counter for the availability of CORE, or student parking spaces, at Towsontown Garage, its main commuter lot, in October 2022. Parking Logix, a Canadian-based company focusing specifically on parking space counting, is being utilized for the project. 

After the month-long trial period, the department surveyed the campus and got mostly positive reviews from the 397 commuter students who responded, Pam Mooney, director of Parking and Transportation Service, said in an email. 

“The system will not only allow commuters to see how many spaces are available in real-time but will also allow our department to monitor and gather statistics,” she said. “The statistics will give us better insight into peak times, days, etc. This, in turn, will help us better manage and more effectively utilize spaces.”

The next step will be adding sensors to the faculty and staff parking spots in Towsontown, which is expected to be completed by the end of the spring 2023 semester. The department hopes to add systems to the Union, Glen and West Village garages by the fall 2023 semester if funding is approved. 

In terms of funding, Mooney said the systems would cost approximately $25,000 per garage to capture CORE and faculty parking. It would cost $15,000 to add the system to the West Village Garage.

The cost variation stems from the different designs of each garage and how many sensors are needed. There are 2,389 CORE parking spots on campus and 1,338 at the stadium and West Village Garage overflow lots, Mooney said.

Jordan Colquitt, president of the Student Government Association, said he thinks the counters would benefit the campus and is a long-term goal of SGA. 

“I think that counters in garages will be a key enhancement to save students time getting to classes and activities,” he said in a text message. “SGA leadership since before my time here has advocated for this change, and I’m glad the university seems to be on board now.”

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