Departmental Visitor & Guest Parking and Transportation Options
- Transportation and Parking Products
- If visitors must drive alone...
- Validation Coupons or Departmental Commuter Tickets (DCTs) for visitors who must drive
- Helpful information for departmental visitors/guests
- Arranged Parking Request Form
- Order Form for transportation and parking products
(bus tickets, validation coupon stickers, DCTs, & short term permits)
NOTE: These parking and transportation products are valuable and should be carefully stored and distributed. Departments could incur an unwanted liability if they are improperly used. Please report missing coupons promptly by sending e-mail to prkissue@u.washington.edu. Provide detailed information concerning the date ordered, coupon sticker numbers and budget being charged.
Which parking product to choose?
Validation Coupons —OR— Departmental Commuter Tickets
Validation Coupons are the better method to use when:
- The visitor will be staying less than 4 hours.
- Departmental Commuter Tickets (DCT's) cannot be distributed in advance.
Departmental Commuter Tickets (DCT's) are the better method to use when:
- The department does not want the visitor to pay initially for parking.
- The visitor will be parking in an area outside gatehouse control.
- The visitor will be staying over 4 hours during the day or over 60 minutes after 4 p.m. weekdays
or on Saturdays. (In such cases, either payment method costs the same.) - The visitor will be leaving when gatehouses are closed, i.e., 9 p.m. - 6 a.m. weekdays and noon Saturdays - 6 a.m. Mondays
Transportation and Parking Products
Departments may choose from several options for visitors and to meet specific needs.
- Bus tickets
- Departmental Commuter Tickets (DCTs)
- Special Departmental Commuter Tickets (more expensive, but special guests can park anywhere except certain restricted areas)
- Validation Coupons
- Short Term Special Permits
- Maps
- Specific directions to campus destinations
Bus tickets
Departments can provide METRO bus tickets for visitors, guests and UW employees working off-site who come to the Seattle campus for university business. The bus tickets are sold ONLY in booklets of 20. The tickets are two-zone, peak-trip (good also for one-zone and off-peak as well) tickets for use within King County. Along with the tickets, you will provide your visitor/guest with a User Information Sheet that gives website information, phone numbers and METRO Trip Planning information.
For $20 per booklet, that's half the regular price of $40, departments may purchase as many booklets as needed; however, they are non-refundable.
With over 60 Metro buses serving the University District, it is possible for your visitors/guests to travel directly to campus. Getting here by bus is easy and saves departments and visitors money. For more information on taking the bus to the UW, click here.
To order bus tickets, fill in the Departmental Request for Transportation Products (order form).
If Visitors Must Drive Alone...
Departmental visitors may be patients, research subjects, university employees from off-site locations, job candidates or guests. If visitors must drive to campus, departments and administrative offices may offer them several options. In all cases, departmentally paid parking is to be used only for conducting university business.
A department may wish to have a visitor(s) parked in a specific lot that is convenient to the department. This arrangement may be made regardless of whether or not the parking fee is paid by the department. The department provides the necessary information to Commuter Services by sending a completed copy of the Arranged Parking Request Form to the Special Events Office via fax (206) 543-2409 or campus mail (Box 351105). With advance notification, Commuter Services can assist departments as needed.
Visitors should be informed that Traffic Guides at campus gatehouses will provide directions to the assigned parking area and from the parking lot to the visitor's campus destination. Please remind mobility-impaired visitors to self-identify at the gatehouse so that they can be properly accommodated.
Departmental Commuter Tickets (DCT's)
Please note: Departmental Commuter Tickets are honored only when entering campus, and Validation Coupons are honored only when outbound.
University departments may order Departmental Commuter Tickets to be used for visitors or guests who are not regular UW employees working on main campus. Also available are Night Departmental Commuter Tickets for visitors who arrive on campus after 4 p. m. weekdays or on Saturday mornings.
Day and Night DCT's are sold in increments of 5 tickets at $11 each for daytime and $5 each for night. Special Departmental Commuter Tickets (more expensive but allow special guests can park anywhere except certain restricted areas) are sold in booklets of 5. All prices include Washington state sales tax. However, sales tax is not charged when a departmental purchase is charged to an university budget number.
Departmental Commuter Tickets are not valid for parking at athletic events.
How to Order Departmental Commuter Tickets
Click on the order form link, print out the Departmental Request for Transportation Products, fill in the appropriate blanks, then send it to Commuter Services, Box 351105 or Fax it to (206) 543-2409, attention Permit Issuance.
Departmental Commuter Tickets must be picked up from Commuter Services. During normal business hours (not the beginning of a quarter please as these are very busy times), small orders may be processed while you wait if you bring the completed form with you to either Parking Services office .
Special Departmental Commuter Tickets
Special Departmental Commuter Tickets are a more costly type of parking permit because they are more flexible. With Special DCT's, departments can provide parking to very important departmental visitors for almost any location on campus for the posted time except in:
- wheelchair/disability spaces
- specially designated spaces such as University Vehicle, Physical Plant, Service Vehicle, and Truck-Only spaces
- parking meters
Special Departmental Commuter Tickets are sold via an order form. Departments send each VIP visitor a ticket and a copy of the User Information Sheet before their visit.
Special Departmental Commuter tickets are not valid for parking at athletic events.
Validation Coupons (visitor refund) for Outbound Use OnlyPlease note: Validation Coupons are accepted in all UW Seattle campus lots/garages.
However, Validation Coupons may not be used in the Triangle or Surgery Pavilion Garages by UW Medical Center patients and visitors to patients. Parking validation in the Triangle Garage is handled by UW Medical Center. Questions about the UWMC Parking Validation Program, Triangle Garage operational procedures, or the parking refund process should be directed to the UWMC parking manager 206-598-4151.
On the front of each Validation Coupon (rectangular, peel-and-stick label) is a barcode, the name of the departmental budget being charged, and the date showing how long the sticker is valid. The Validation Coupon program works as follows:
- The visitor purchases a parking permit at a campus gatehouse and leaves it face up on the vehicle's dashboard. The visitor will pay on entry by cash or Mastercard/Visa..
- Before leaving the department, the visitor is given a Validation Coupon.
- Before leaving campus, the visitor affixes the sticker to the back of the parking permit. [Note: for auditing reasons, a Traffic Guide cannot affix the sticker to the permit.]
- The visitor presents the permit validated with the sticker to a gatehouse Traffic Guide upon exit and receives a refund. [Note: parking validation must be processed the same day that the permit is purchased and when gatehouses are open, i.e., 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. - noon on Saturdays.]
- The department is charged the fee associated with the actual time the visitor was parked on campus.
| Length of Stay | Daytime Cost | Cost after 4 p.m. M-F |
| 0-30 minutes | $2 | $2 |
| 30 min. - 1 hour | $3 | $3 |
| 1 - 2 hours | $6 | $5 |
| 2 - 3 hours | $9 | |
| Over 4 hours | $11 | |
Flat Rat |
$3 (8 - 9 p.m. M-F) | $3 (11 a.m.-noon Sat.) |
How to Order Validation Coupons
Departments request Validation Coupons in the same manner in which they order Departmental Commuter Tickets. (See Order Form.) However, the appropriate budget number is not charged until a parking permit with Validation Coupon is presented for refund at a campus gatehouse. The charge to the departmental budget is only the actual amount of the parking fee (see fee table above). In many situations, the Validation Coupon method is a more cost-effective method for university departments to pay for visitor parking (see "Which parking product to choose?" below).
Validation Coupons must be signed for when picked up from Commuter Services. They cannot be mailed to departments. With the initial order of Validation Coupons, a department receives a User Information Sheet master to copy as needed, additional information on the Validation Coupon Program, and another Order Form. In addition, a sheet containing accounting-related information is mailed to the departmental budget coordinator.
Short Term Special Permits
Visitors who are spending several consecutive days on campus may find Short Term Special Permits a very convenient parking method. This type of permit, available at day and evening parking rates, is frequently issued to conference and workshop participants. Call our Permit Office product ordering person at 206-221-3701 for details.
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