Take advantage of Penn State’s limited-but-existent free parking options while you can. There are several new parking procedures going into effect 7 a.m. on Wednesday, September 14 at the East, HUB, and Nittany parking decks, and more coming in the spring.

First, instead of paying upon exit, visitors will need to take parking tickets with them and stop at new pay stations within each facility to pay before returning to their vehicles.

The hours visitors will be required to pay for parking will remain the same throughout the rest of the fall semester — drivers will be charged for parking on weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and midnight, as well as during any special event weekends. At the start of the spring semester, the decks will change to 24/7 operations, where a valid permit or parking permit will be required at all times.

Permits for the three decks will include a new chip-embedded feature that will allow permit holders access to the facilities during allotted hours. Permit holders who wish to park during any other hours will be asked to pay at the exit land station upon departure. All other faculty and staff permit holders will no longer take entry tickets, but will scan their permit’s barcode upon entrance and exit. The hours of use for these permits will remain the same.

All temporary permits without barcodes will need to be exchanged for ones that do. This new barcode technology will make Penn State Commonwealth Campus permits invalid when visitors wish to access the East, HUB, and Nittany parking decks. The Commonwealth Campus permit holders will need to pay parking fees for entrance.

Parking staff will be available at all of the parking decks over the next few weeks to assist with this transition. A customer service intercom will be available throughout the rest of the fall semester with 24/7 service as well.