Story by Ava Chuppe
Contributing writer
am.chuppe@gmail.com
Recently, Murray State implemented parking changes that require vehicle registration via myGate, a change that students should be aware of.
In fact, all students, whether full-time, part-time, regional or web, must register through the myGate parking channel if they use a vehicle on campus. Annual renewal of the registration is also required.
Student parking permit changes include a $200 fee for red and yellow zone parking, including commuters, students who live in Regents or White, residents in the North Residential Complex and College Courts. There will be a $100 fee for Economy purple zone access, including parking at Roy Stewart Stadium, Hamilton Field, Hamilton North, the Sorority Suites and West Farm.
Vehicle registrations are valid for the fall, spring and summer sessions. Upon registering via myGate, students must provide their name, Murray State ID or driver’s license, local address, vehicle year, make, model and color, license plate number and the state and county in which the vehicle is registered. Registration is available 24 hours daily. To register a student vehicle or renew registration for the upcoming semester, visit https://mygate.murraystate.edu.
Faculty and staff must also obtain a parking permit. Faculty blue zone access requires a fee of $200, and Economy purple zone access costs $100 for employees as well. Parking becomes free for a faculty member when he or she has worked at Murray State for at least 20 years. Faculty and staff must also complete the same registration in the myGate system.
As for visitors, guest parking permits are free. However, multiple violations with no attempt to acquire a visitor permit may result in visitor citations being sent for collection or the towing of vehicles at the owner’s expense. The towing and booting fee is $75. To obtain a guest parking permit, go to https://murraystate.nupark. com/portal.
Some other notable violations and costs include $250 for blocking disability access such as a wheelchair ramp, $100 for non-registration of a vehicle, $80 for obstructing traffic and $15 for exceeding the time limit or parking in the wrong zone.
A student or faculty member who parks in a spot reserved for guests must pay the $15 fine. However, after 4 p.m., any color permit may park in the blue lots on the academic side of campus, south of Chestnut Street. A more recent regulation requires cars not to pull through or back into parking spaces.
For certain fines, Murray State offers the Pay it Forward program, through which individuals with a current parking permit may donate food and hygiene items to Parking Services corresponding with the fine from their citation rather than paying the fine.
Citations eligible for donation are non-registration of a vehicle ($100), yellow curb or grass parking ($80), obstructing traffic ($80), wrong zone ($15), exceeding the time limit ($15), backing in or pulling through ($15) and parking against traffic flow ($15). Donations will not be accepted if the citation has already gone through the appeals process, and the donation must be within 30 days of the citation.
For students who wish to ride a bicycle around campus, bicycle registration is free. The benefit of completing this registration is that if the bicycle is lost or stolen, it is more likely to be found. Unlike a car, a bicycle does not require an annual registration renewal. To complete the registration process, one must provide the bicycle’s serial number, frame size, wheel size and registration sticker placement on the longest bar of the bike frame. Instructions on measuring bicycles for registration can be found at www.murraystate.edu/parking.
More information about Murray State parking services can be found by visiting www.murraystate.edu/parking. If you have any questions, you can call the parking office at (270) 809-4812 or contact the office by emailing at msu.publicsafety@murraystate.edu.