Wichita State basketball fans lost 780 parking spots this season with the construction of the new dormitory off Perimeter Road, pushing patrons farther away from Charles Koch Arena.

To compensate, the athletic department worked out a deal with Overland Charters to offer a “Game Night Special” during basketball games this fall on weekdays.

In August, Overland Charters began providing students and faculty with the opportunity to park at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex at 29th and Oliver streets, and ride shuttles to and from campus for free.

The Game Night Special adds two buses that will run a specific route from 4:30-10:30 p.m. The route makes stops at Eck Stadium, Grace Wilkie Hall, Ahlberg Hall and Charles Koch Arena. The other four shuttles will make their usual stops. A map of the routes can be found online at bit.ly/basket_map.

“From a customer service aspect, we thought we would offer something for folks if they decide to use it,” said Brad Pittman, with Facilities and Operations for the athletic department.

The university recognized that when games fall on weekdays, at the same time classes are in session, parking becomes a greater problem, construction or no construction. Those games fall on Nov. 14, Jan. 28 and Feb. 11.

“What happens on school nights, we get a little concerned with students and fans being pushed away,” Pittman said.

Barth Hague, associate vice president for University Relations, said that parking shouldn’t be an issue on weekends or days when classes aren’t in session.

“It’s expensive to do this, so they felt like the only time they needed to do this was when there was competition with students for parking,” Hague said.

Pittman said the option to ride a shuttle eliminates walking across campus on a cold night, and allows fans to park just about anywhere, as long as they’re close by one of the seven shuttle stops.

To check on updates to the bus schedule, visit wichita.edu/parking.