Visitor Parking on Duke University’s Campus Just Got Easier

Blue Spot, Duke’s custom-built platform, lets you choose your lot, pay by phone and be on your way

A Blue Spot sign in a parking lot.
Signs helping the Duke community use the Blue Spot parking platform can be found at visitor lots across the university campus.

As part of her role at the Fuqua School of Business, Kim Stewart often helps colleagues and guests navigate their visits to campus.

In the past, she would hear from about a dozen people each month who needed assistance with visitor parking.

That changed this summer, when Duke Parking & Transportation Services expanded its “Blue Spot” online platform to handle hourly parking. Since its launch, Stewart said the number of requests for help has dropped to zero, a clear sign the new system is making the visitor parking experience smoother and more reliable.

The Blue Spot platform offers an easy, secure way to pay for hourly visitor parking on the Duke University campus.  Accessible through mobile devices on web browsers, Blue Spot replaces the pay stations and third-party parking apps that previously served Duke University’s 16 visitor parking lots. The platform does not apply to parking in Duke University Health System garages.

Customers can access the Blue Spot platform by using a QR code on signs around campus. Photo by Stephen Schramm.

“It’s super simple,” said Stewart, a Digital Printing Specialist who also handles some building operations duties. “The customer never has to go to a machine and stand in the rain or something. It’s been a massive improvement.”

When parking in one of the visitor parking lots on the University campus, users can use their mobile device to visit bluespot.duke.edu/hourly or use the QR code on nearby signs to reach the platform. After choosing their lot from the drop-down list, they can pay by entering their vehicle and payment information and how long they plan to stay. The fee is $2 per hour.

“We wanted to build our own solution to keep fees low for our customers and have more flexibility in what we offer,” said Executive Director of Duke Parking & Transportation Carl DePinto.

In 2023, Parking & Transportation Services launched the “MyParking” custom-built platform that gave Duke community members the opportunity to reserve and pre-pay for daily parking passes at selected campus lots. Inspired by the success of that effort, Parking & Transportation expanded the service to include a way to pay for hourly parking.

Parking & Transportation partnered with Duke OIT’s Web and Mobile Development team to build the new digital platform. Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship students contributed by developing the Blue Spot name and branding, while the Duke Parking & Transportation finalized the design and produced the signage now in visitor lots across campus.

“This is a completely Duke-built application,” said Duke Parking & Transportation Permits and Adjudications Lead Andrew Woloszczuk. “The collaboration we were able to get was just priceless. We started from the ground up and developed a great solution for our campus visitors. We are excited to roll this one-of-a-kind application out to the Duke community.”

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