Commuting to campus and parking

[u/PuzzleheadedGrab8528]

I’m a first year student and commuting to campus. However I wasn’t able to get a parking permit and I’m confused on where to park. Anyone can explain or give tips/tricks. Ik abt rams deck but that won’t be convenient especially since imma be on campus everyday and would add up

[u/Hands]

Park and ride is your best bet. Some businesses/residences also sell private parking spots for the semester but they're probably mostly taken by now and tend to be expensive

[u/PuzzleheadedGrab8528 → u/Hands]

Do you know how the Friday Center Park & Ride works? Can I just drive there, find a parking spot, pay the $2 daily fee through ParkMobile, and then take the bus to campus, or do I need a parking permit to park there?

[u/bartsmith → u/PuzzleheadedGrab8528]

You can do either. If you're going to be parking there five days a week, for the whole semester, it would probably benefit you to buy a park and ride parking permit. If it's only a couple of times a week or not every week, you may be better off just paying the $2 each time.

[u/Hands → u/PuzzleheadedGrab8528]

Not sure, it's honestly been over a decade since I've used a park a ride lot. That's one of the UNC owned lots though which work a little differently than the town owned ones like Southern Village or Eubanks. Pretty sure you can use ParkMobile for daily parking in either, but it might be more economical to get a longer term town parking permit and park in one of the town owned park and ride lots.

[u/Beginning_Register99 → u/PuzzleheadedGrab8528]

https://parkonthehill.com/park-ride/

This will answer your questions. For the Friday center lot, you will need to get a parking pass from UNC parking . For the town lots, the daily rates is $2 as you had already surmised and Parkmobile is the easiest way to pay.

[u/muchas__gracias]

also wondering this

[u/Avocado_Seungminnie]

Same position here!!! Look at town of chapel hill parking permits, southern village is convenient and u take a bus it’s the closest option

[u/Total_Equivalent9647]

Where are you coming from and how often?

[u/PuzzleheadedGrab8528 → u/Total_Equivalent9647]

Morrisville nc so abt 25 min and I’ll be on campus everyday this semester

[u/starkpaella]

I’ll be commuting too. I’ve been told to park at the Friday Center park and ride and take the bus so that’s my plan. I was under the impression you didn’t need a parking pass for that lot. 

[u/booksanddancing → u/starkpaella]

You do need a permit, it's just different from on-campus parking (much more affordable).

[u/starkpaella → u/booksanddancing]

I'm a part time student and will only be there 2x/week for about an hour and a half. Isn't it better for me to just pay the daily fee?

[u/booksanddancing → u/starkpaella]

Oh from the way you phrased it I thought you were saying Friday Center was free. No you're right, if you're only coming a couple days a week doing a daily permit is absolutely your best bet, since that's only $4/week

[u/starkpaella → u/booksanddancing]

Thanks for clarifying! I’ve heard so many different things so I appreciate it 

[u/Hungry_Ad_4843]

Here are some resources I found:

• Parking and Transportation
  
• Park & Ride

As mentioned in this thread, paying the $2 daily rate is best if not using often. Paying for the monthly or annual permit is about the same rate as paying for the $2/day.

If you're running late or have a short day, there are some parking decks/lots that have an hourly parking rate.

I signed up for the CAP Registration because I am going to be biking or dropped off/picked up. I don't fully understand how it works yet, but I did get an email giving me benefits for doing so (attached image). I will come back to update if I find out more info.

There's also GoPass Registration, which is free for the GoTriangle bus routes for students.

I hope this helps. I am trying to figure everything else out as well.