Major parking changes rolled out over the summer. Here’s what you missed.

This summer, Augusta University rolled out some major parking changes.

Beginning in May, the University implemented new parking rules and regulations for faculty, staff and students. Some of the changes include parking permit rates, the length of time your permit is active and new parking rules.

Now that these changes are in effect, if you park in a reserved spot that is not your own, if you are blocking the flow of traffic or if you are a repeat offender of parking rules and regulations, you are subject to being towed at your expense along with citation. The company Parking and Transportation Services will be using is Chancey’s Wrecker Service located at 3102 Mike Padgett Hwy.  The cost to recover your vehicle is $175 and the storage fee is $25 per day.

While those parked in a reserved spot belonging to someone else will be towed immediately, those in violation of any of the other parking rules and regulations are subject to citations prior to towing. However, if you have three outstanding citations — or outstanding citations equaling $100 or more — you may be booted. Repeat offenders or those who have already been booted and are still violating parking rules and regulations may be towed. Citations become outstanding after five days of inaction. If you feel that the citation is undeserved, you may appeal the citation. However, you must pay or appeal within five days or it becomes outstanding.

Beginning July 1, drivers were no longer allowed to back into parking spots. This is because of the implementation of a new license plate recognition system, which requires enforcement to read a legal plate.

There are also some new parking rules regarding several lots.

Health Sciences Student Center

Lot 3, the parking lot in front of the Health Sciences Student Center, will return to being a visitor pay lot. New entry gates and an automated payment gate at the exit have been installed, and will become operational starting May 14. The rate will remain the same at $1.00 per 30 minutes.

Dental College of Georgia

Lot 5, the dental patient lot located in front of the Dental College of Georgia, is for the exclusive use of dental patients. Therefore, in order to better enforce this rule and make it easier for patients to find parking, new gates have been installed. Patients will receive a parking validation to ensure they don’t have to pay for parking; however, the fee for non-validated parking is $50.00.

Additionally, the DCG will validate tickets only for patients, prospective resident or employee interviews, vendors, and external guests participating in a DCG-related function, providing there is availability. Parking cannot be validated for prospective dental or dental hygiene students invited for interviews, volunteer faculty, residents (Fort Gordon, VA or AU), students (Augusta Tech or AU), non-patient employees, CE participants, or family or friends of employees.

You may contact DCG parking for more information.

Oak and Elm Halls

The last lot with some major changes is Lot 1, the residential lot for those who live in Oak and Elm Halls. A new gate has been installed, and beginning May 14, the lot is only available to those with an access card.

Parking Permit Prices

Parking permit prices also changed. You can purchase your parking permit for the academic year 2018/2019 online with the new parking management system. Starting this academic year, parking permits will be multi-year permits, which means permits for 2018/2019 will not expire until August 2021.

Employee Permits went on sale July 1. Employees will need to log in to the parking system to register their vehicle and purchase their permit. Nine and 10-month faculty may purchase their permit when they return to campus.

For those with a Non-Reserved Health Sciences, University Employee permit the price will remain the same at $25 per month. Other changes:

• University employees with reserved spots on the Health Sciences Campus will now be paying $88 per month.
• Faculty and staff with non-reserved permits on the Summerville Campus will go up from $15 to $20 per month.
• All student permits will now be $50 for the semester.
• Additionally, the threshold wage for low income employee permits has increased to $25,500.

A new feature coming to campus soon is a Pay by Phone option.

And one more thing, the Teal route name changed to the Blue Route on July 1.

According to David Santa Ana, director of Parking and Transportation, the changes offer greater efficiency.

“It’s been a compounding effect because we didn’t have a good [parking] management system, but now we can manage this stuff a lot more efficiently and much more effectively,” said Santa Ana. “These are some steps that needed to be implemented — it’s an effective use of technological advancements and a better use of personnel. Most parking customers will not be affected by the new towing and boot policies, this additional enforcement is really just a way to handle egregious offenders or repeat offenders.“

For more information contact Parking and Transportation at the parking office, or call (706)721-2953. View a full list of parking violations and their charges.