Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi has been working to help improve visitor parking by implementing ParkMobile to help with the issues of parking.

ParkMobile is an app you can use on your phone to reserve a parking spot in a designated area for a certain period of time. It is usually used for concerts and sporting events, but at TAMU-CC it is to help with visitor parking as said by Jaclyn Mahlmann, Vice President for Finance and Administration.

“This opportunity allows us to have visitor parking across campus,” said Mahlmann. Mahlmann added that once the parking garage was built, scattered visitor parking was eliminated. Due to demand from visitors wanting to park closer to buildings, ParkMobile was introduced to remedy parking issues.

The Transportation Committee and UPD offered ParkMobile to make a change for how parking is done on campus last year as mentioned by Mahlmann, and the service has also been used by Texas A&M University-College Station.

“They tested the product, and they’re happy with it,” said Mahlmann, “Chief (Alan Gutierrez) also did some other reference checks with other campuses, and that is the product we chose to go to.”

Mahlmann also mentions that there are some ParkMobile locations downtown near the Wells Fargo Building and Mesquite Street near La Retama Park. Some ParkMobile zones have been seen near Classroom East but are just set up to prepare for the launch and not active yet.

“They’re not available for purchase yet, we have not gone live yet,” said Mahlmann. She also states there will be an announcement on ParkMobile on Thursday, Nov 20 with frequently asked questions, as well as the launch of the service.

Once the service is launched, there will be a grace period for students and visitors who park in the designated ParkMobile zones.

“We know this is a transition for all users,” said Mahlmann, “There will be a grace period where if someone accidentally parks in one of those spots, they will receive a warning.”

Mahlmann warns that once the Spring 2020 semester starts, students and visitors will receive a ticket from UPD if they are parked in the designated ParkMobile zone without paying for it on the app.

The maximum amount of hours you can purchase on the ParkMobile app will be up to two hours, with 15 minutes being the minimum.

Mahlmann also added that once things settle in with the app, ParkMobile will have spots in the garage and will get rid of the gates that dispense a ticket. Those who bought a spot with ParkMobile will go to the zones marked for them, and those with parking garage passes can park wherever.

More details will be released by the University on Nov. 20, and if you want more info on ParkMobile itself, you can visit their website at parkmobile.io, and download the app on Google Play and the Apple App store.