Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include an image of the patrol vehicle.

The Iowa State University Parking Division is now only issuing virtual parking permits, allowing cars to be checked by a license plate recognition system attached to the top of patrolling vehicles.

ISU Parking Division Director Mark Miller said the change is partly to replace an old system.

“Our ticketing system was at [the] end of its life, so we had to go out and get a new ticketing system,” Miller said. “We took a lot of comments over the years [about] what people would really like to see. People don’t like the permits hanging up in the windows or even some stickers.”

Sara Everson, a customer relations coordinator, said that going through the Maple-Willow-Larch parking lot to write five tickets, which took around 30 to 45 minutes with physical permits, would probably take around 10 minutes with virtual permits.

“Now with license plate recognition […] the vehicle is just telling you what’s good and bad, rather than you having to get out and walk and look at every single vehicle [and] every single permit going down,” Everson said.

Miller also said that the new system is more adequate for the number of staff they have which was difficult to grow due to coursework for students.

“We’ll still have some students working but not to the extent that we had in the past, which we couldn’t get them anyway sometimes,” Miller said.

Permits are no longer being sold through AccessPlus and instead can be purchased through the Parking Division website, where staff and students can login with their NetID and add current vehicle information.

Parking tickets can now be paid online through their website, but just like the old system, after 30 days the ticket will be added to the U-Bill on AccessPlus.

“If you happen to get a ticket, you can go in there and you can actually look at the pictures too, so we can show you why you got that ticket,” Miller said.

Miller said that the ISU Parking Division does not receive money from the state or tuition, but it needs funds for salaries, line painting, crack fillings, CyRide and snow removal. He added that additional funds go toward major renovations like the recent expansions for lots one and ten, which cost $2.3 million.

“We generate about $5 million a year in permits, fees, fines, and at the end, somewhere about hopefully about 1.8 million goes back to the future major renovations,” Miller said. “We expect [that] in the next 30 years we’ll need about $98 million.”

Miller said he does not anticipate the new virtual permit system generating additional revenue.

Returning students can begin purchasing permits for residence halls and on-campus apartments July 12-18 and freshman and transfer students can begin July 20-27, varying by location.