Parking & Transportation

Parking is very limited at UT Austin and UTPD officers do give parking tickets.

As a student you are eligible to purchase a “C” permit (student parking). Permits do not guarantee you a spot and it may be necessary to arrive very early to find parking. You are also able to put your name on a waitlist for an “S” permit if you live off campus (NOT in an official UT residence hall). You must sign up for your preferred garage on the waitlist each semester. The waitlist can be lengthy, and the garages with waitlists tend to be expensive. However, if/when you receive a permit, you can hold on to that permit until you graduate (unless you want to give it up sooner). The cheapest garage tends to be East Campus Garage (ECG), on the other side of I-35. While it is across the interstate from campus, there is a shuttle (Route 640 – Forty Acres) that runs frequently between the garage and campus.

Registered graduate students who are employed by UT for at least twenty hours per week (GRAs, TAs, and some fellowship holders) may qualify for an “A” permit (see parking maps here). They will need a copy of your appointment letter, which is your offer letter stating you will have a 20-hour-a-week position. You may also complete an application to receive “A” parking online under the “My Parking Profile” tab on the far right-hand side of the Parking and Transportation Services page (you need your EID to login).

For more information on eligibility, fees, location of the parking lots, or other information on parking, refer to Parking and Transportation Services here. If you do drive and park on campus, it is worthwhile to pay attention to the emails PTS sends out, as they often alert you to construction and events that might make driving to and parking on campus harder – so you can plan accordingly!

UT Austin offers a shuttle service to registered students to many parts of Austin, including the Pickle Research Center. Maps and time are available on the website. Austin city buses, part of CapMetro, are also free for UT students; you just need your UT ID card to board. You can use the CapMetro Trip Planner to help you research which routes would be best for you.

UT encourages the use of bikes to get to, from, and around campus.  You do need to register your bike, which is free. There are bike lockers in various parking garages, and racks around campus. ALWAYS lock your bike. You can find more information about biking to campus, including maps, Fixit Stations, shower facilities, and the yearly bike auction, at the BikeUT website.

Electric scooters are approved to park on campus in designated parking spots. Follow the rules and guidelines for using scooters on campus, which can be found here.  

For those that walk to campus, UT Sure Walk is available for those living around campus who feel uncomfortable walking home late at night. They will have fellow students accompany you on your walk or provide you with a complimentary car or car ride, depending on where you live.

There is more information on various forms of transportation at the PTS Transportation website.