UW Tacoma Parking Permits

Our parking permits are a convenient option that give you unlimited parking (unless otherwise noted) in a specific lot within the valid dates and times of your permit, and as long as space is available.

  • All parking permits (with the exception of Court 17 resident permits) are purchased in our online Parking Portal.
  • The Portal will automatically show the options that are available to you.
    • Disability parking permits require prior authorization to purchase.
    • If you've been approved by the VA office for Chapter 31 benefits, you should be able to purchase a permit by selecting "Third Party" as your payment method during checkout.  

If you think you are not being shown the correct permit types or payment method options in the Parking Portal, please email transit@uw.edu for assistance!

Visit this page for purchasing instructions and help navigating the Parking Portal.

 

Have a question about the rules associated with parking permits?

View the full Terms and Conditions for UW Tacoma Parking Permits here. 

Common questions about parking permits

Are parking permits required?

No, parking permits are not required on the UW Tacoma campus. They are completely optional. For more information on alternatives, see our information on hourly parking and U-PASS, as well as our parking map. 

When can I buy a parking permit?

Permits for UW Tacoma parking lots go on sale one week before the start of every academic quarter and close after 3 weeks. The sales calendar is posted on our home page. We suggest that you plan to purchase early, as many popular options sell out quickly! 

Check the parking permit sales calendar for sales dates. 

Court 17 Resident Parking Permits are sold differently than our standard quarterly permits - they can be purchased by requesting a permit when filling out your housing application, or by submitting our web form after move-in. 

Which permit lots are available to students?

Students can purchase permits for Court 17 parking garage and the Whitney lot, as well as evening-only permits for Pinkerton Turnaround and the Tioga lot.  See all student options here.  

Court 17 residents may only purchase a Court 17 resident parking permit.

 

 

I'm a Court 17 resident - where do I get/manage my parking permit?

Currently, Court 17 residents can use a webform to request a parking permit. More details on resident permits are here. 

  • Overnight parking is allowed
  • Permits are billed to your student account
  • Quarterly fee is $342 for the 2023-2024 academic year
  • Valid for the academic school year, only needs to be renewed annually

If you did not get your parking permit through the housing application process, you will need to request on using our webform. 

While residents can't currently purchase their own permit through the Parking Portal, they CAN manage the vehicles in their account and change which vehicles are linked to their permit. See this page for instructions on using the Parking Portal.

How do employees purchase permits?

All permits are purchased in the Parking Portal. Do not create a guest account - log in using your UW NetID and password. If you see an error message saying that your account does not exist, please email us at transit@uw.edu for assistance. 

  • Annual/auto-renewing permits should always be available
  • 9-month permits will be available during Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters
  • Quarterly permits will only be available during the quarterly permit sales periods

Learn how to navigate the Parking Portal here.

Learn all about Employee Parking Permits here.

Do you have permits set aside for students eligible for VA Chapter 31 benefits?

No. Chapter 31 benefits allow qualified students to purchase their parking permit at a discounted rate. These benefits do NOT guarantee a student will receive a permit.

All permits are purchased in the online Parking Portal. You are strongly encouraged to purchase your permit ASAP once sales open, as supplies are limited and they do sell out! Sales open one week before the quarter begins.

To take advantage of these benefits:

  • Get approved by the VA office for Chapter 31 benefits
  • If permit sales have already started, ask your counselor to send your PO expiration date to transit@uw.edu
  • Purchase your permit through the Parking Portal, following the directions on this page

When viewing the parking portal, you will NO LONGER see options listed for $0. This is not a mistake! Please review the new purchase process if you have not bought a permit since this change. 

Do I need to display a physical permit in my vehicle?

Nope! All UW Tacoma parking lots use License Plate Recognition to verify that you have a valid permit or have submitted payment for hourly parking. Your license plate now serves as your physical permit. 

Make sure to keep your vehicle information updated in the Parking Portal and park so that your license plate is clearly visible!
 

The permit I want is sold out - do I have any options?
  • Check the Parking Portal periodically. Another student may change their mind and cancel their permit. In that case, the permit will just go back into the pool of available permits that show up in the Portal.
  • Want to carpool to campus? We don't have separate carpool permits, but you can always split the cost with your carpool buddy and add the vehicles that will be used for carpooling inside the Parking Portal! Send us an email at transit@uw.edu and we'll make sure your joint permit is linked correctly.
  • Try transit! The U-PASS allows you to ride the bus anytime, anywhere without paying fare — it's even good on the Sounder Train! Learn more about public transit.
Can I just buy a M/W/F permit AND a T/Th/F permit?

Sorry, no! There is a strict limit of one permit per customer. See our parking permit terms and conditions.

I have two vehicles linked to my permit - can I park them in the lot at the same time?

No, your permit only allows you to park one vehicle in the designated parking lot at a time. See item 5-C in our parking permit terms and conditions.

Can I park my motorcycle or scooter in Court 17?

Yes, as long as you...

  • have a Court 17 parking permit with the motorcycle listed as your secondary vehicle
  • OR you are parking hourly using the Pay By Phone app (only available from 3:30 PM to 11:00PM)
  • AND you park in a designated motorcycle stall (stalls 34 and 149)

See our page on Motorcycles and scooters for more info

Can I park my motorcycle or scooter in a standard parking stall?

No, you must park in a motorcycle stall. See our page on Motorcycles and scooters for more info. 

Why did I get a citation warning for backing into my parking stall?

If you received some kind of citation or warning for backing into a parking stall, it is likely because your front license plate is missing or placed in a way that it does not get picked up by our parking enforcement. If you do not have a license plate mounted on the front of your vehicle, do not back in. See our parking permit terms and conditions.

Does my permit guarantee me a spot?

Unfortunately, no. If we only sold one permit for each stall, our lots would not be utilized very effectively. We are mandated by the state of Washington under WAC Chapter 478-118 to "allocate limited parking space for the most efficient use". To do this, we monitor the occupancy rates in all of our parking lots throughout the year and use that data to determine how many permits we can issue for each lot. Our goal is to find the sweet spot where we can issue enough permits to avoid having too many stalls sitting empty without it getting so full that it is impossible to find parking during peak hours.

The busiest time of the year for parking is at the beginning of Autumn quarter. After a couple of weeks, things tend to slow down. Lots also tend to be the most full right around lunch time, so try to get to campus before 11AM or after 1 PM. If you are having trouble finding an open spot in your permit lot, especially outside of peak hours between 11am and 1 pm, please send us an email at transit@uw.edu to let us know! We will evaluate if we need to adjust the number of permits sold to reduce demand in that lot. 

Is there an overflow parking location I can use if the permit lot is full?

Unfortunately, we are not able to offer overflow parking anymore. Our old overflow policy allowed for Court 17 permit-holders to park in Whitney if the garage was full, but this was established back when few people were parking in the Whitney Lot. Now that Whitney is heavily used, it would not be fair to direct overflow parking to the Whitney Lot.