MSU is instituting the use of “Pay by Plate” parking kiosks in Ramp 6, located off Grand River Avenue between Olin Health Center and the Human Ecology Building.
During the 90-day trial, patrons can register their license plates with the kiosk, pay for how much time they need, and retrieve a receipt. The kiosk allows for the use of several different kinds of payment too, including coins, cash and credit card.
“I like the parking meters where you can use an actual card,” supply chain management sophomore Rochana Hammoud said. “But otherwise, if they’re just the coin ones, I like (the kiosks) a lot better ... I never have quarters on me.”
In turn, MSU parking enforcement can verify the car’s license plate with their online system to determine how much time is left and whether they warrant a ticket.
Another feature of the “Pay by Plate” kiosk, MSU Parking Operations Office Supervisor Lynnette Forman said, is it will also allow for those using it to register their mobile phone number with the device and be sent text messages alerting them when their time is running out.
And whether a person be in class or work or wherever they are, they can add some time and money through an SMS text messaging system.
"(That’s) definitely helpful because I’m always in a rush to get to my car,” said Hammoud, adding that cops are always coming around to give parking tickets.
In the end, all these changes are a step in a process of making parking on campus technologically friendly and easy on those who drive, Forman said.
However, the kiosks aren’t for everyone, like in the case of construction management sophomore Jack Aliotta.
“It’s kind of inconvenient,” Aliotta said. “I like when you can take a ticket right up (at the front) and when you leave, just pay.”
Forman said these kiosks allow MSU to get around the fact that technology on MSU’s campus currently does not allow for the option of parking meters with credit cards to be placed in the parking ramps. This is because the ones MSU currently has are powered by solar energy.
