New DOTS system poses problems

Students who tried to access their parking permit information on the DOTS website Thursday morning appeared to be logged on as another student: A department employee who had forgotten to take down the personal information he posted as a test, officials said.

David Wallace's name and university ID number were posted on the site, and it appeared that students had the option to add or remove cars from his permit account. Wallace, a senior computer science major, said he was not concerned and no one could have actually interfered with his account.

But this may not be the last issue the Department of Transportation Services will face as it rolls out a new Campus License Plate Recognition system to replace physical parking permits this semester, DOTS officials and University Police said.

The new system, which went live today, will use GPS technology and a license plate scanner to check whether vehicles are parked at the right place on the campus. By no longer issuing plastic hang-tags for vehicles, the department is saving an estimated $60,000 a year, according to DOTS Director David Allen.

Despite Thursday's information leak, Assistant to the Director Beverly Malone said the transition to the new system has not been problematic.

"It's really been going very smoothly," Malone said, adding DOTS has been working closely with the Office of Information Technology to backup information and troubleshoot possible issues with the new system.

Although Malone said there have been no widespread problems, some small issues with the registrations have already occurred, and she said the possibility for larger problems still exists.

"Any time you have a new program, you have glitches," she said.

Police said the new registration system is also affecting how they check vehicles entering the campus between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.

When DOTS used hanging permits, any vehicle with a university parking tag hanging from its rearview mirror was waved through checkpoints, saving time and reducing congestion.

Now, because vehicles no longer bear any visual indication they are registered to a student, everyone entering the campus in a vehicle will have to show identification, said Lt. Jeff Killion, who oversees the checkpoint procedures.

Police auxiliary workers will not take down license plate information for students who present their university ID cards but will check that the photo matches either the driver or one of the passengers in the car, Killion said. Police will continue to log the license plate numbers of drivers who present another form of ID, he added.

This change comes after DOTS and police decided against issuing permit stickers to be placed on their vehicles to let them cruise through the checkpoints, an idea Killion said wasn't secure enough.

"The problem with [the stickers] was that they were unaccountable, un-serialized," Killion said.

Although Killion does not expect the new gate procedure to cause traffic on the campus, he said students should consider entering at one of the three other gates besides the main Campus Drive entrance off Route 1.

There are two gates off University Boulevard — at Paint Branch Drive to Comcast Center, and at Stadium Drive. Students can also enter the campus from Route 1 south of the main entrance at Regents Drive.

"They are always a better option than the main gate," Killion said.

mccarty at umdbk dot com