The line at Campus Parking Services was out the door the first day of school.

For those students living in the residence halls who hoped for an orange parking permit, their time had run out. Students then had to settle for a new color: green.

The green parking lot is part of the Convocation Center lot and now is home to more than 300 cars.

The green lot is an addition to the parking offered at NIU.

Instead of overselling orange lot passes, Campus Parking Services took advantage of the abundance of asphalt near the Convo Center and started to park students in the new lot.

“One of the reasons the Convo Center was sold was to alleviate the parking problem,” said Ron Pearson of Campus Parking Services. A pass is $20 for one semester and $25 for the whole year, which is a more attainable price for students over the higher-priced orange parking that costs $40 for one semester and $60 for the whole year.

“As with mostly everything, we just can’t please everyone,” Pearson said. “There is a difference between adequate and convenient parking.”

The green lot does have one minor downside, which is the walk from the lot to main places on campus.

From the green lot, it takes nine minutes to get to DuSable Hall, and 13 minutes to get to the Holmes Student Center.

Campus Circle R and L buses stop at the lot to save students the walk.