Carnegie Mellon

Parking Policies

1. The University’s Parking Regulations, Policies and Procedures (“Policies”) apply to all vehicles operated on University property. The University is not responsible for loss or damage incurred to vehicles or the contents in the vehicles using University facilities or operated on University property. The Parking & Transportation Office issues permits only to members of the University community, subject to the conditions that permit holders abide by the Policies and agree to pay the fees charged for parking permits and all costs or penalties associated with violations of the Regulations. Monies that are owed to Parking & Transportation must be paid before an application will be included in the allocation process. The Policies define specific violations and explain the University’s enforcement practices, including ticketing and imposition of fines, payment and appeal procedures and, where necessary, immobilization or external enforcement (i.e. towing). Parking and Transportation Services reserves the right to ticket and tow any vehicle located on University property if that vehicle does not display a valid parking permit.
2. If you have forgotten your permit (hang tag) on a particular day, you should contact the Parking & Transportation Office to receive a temporary permit (a $2 fee will be charged) or the vehicle will receive a citation. In the event a gate card or permit is lost, a $15 fee will be charged for issuance of a replacement gate card or permit. One warning, per parking permit year, will be issued for failure to display a temporary permit, when your regular permit is forgotten. Thereafter, the vehicle will receive a citation and the owner of the vehicle will be responsible for paying the citation.
3. Compact vehicles must park in the designated compact parking spaces marked “C” in the Morewood Gardens parking lot. Vehicles measuring 66” wide or less, and 192” long or less, are considered compact. Full size vehicles are those which exceed either dimension. Any full size vehicle parking in the spaces marked “C” will be issued a ticket.
4. The University establishes the criteria to allocate parking spaces each year among members of the Carnegie Mellon community. After the annual allocation procedure has concluded, the Parking & Transportation Office sells remaining spaces in each lot to applicants on the waiting list in order of category (faculty, staff, and student).
5. Payment of the applicable parking fee entitles the permit holder to enter an assigned parking lot. Employees who receive parking before the 15th of the month will be charged for parking for the entire month; any employee who receives parking after the 15th of the month will be charged for half the month. Upon separation of employment or termination of affiliation with the University, parking permits must be surrendered. Any employee, who leaves the University for any reason, (short-term disability, termination, leave of absence, sabbatical leave) must notify Parking & Transportation within 5 business days. If notification occurs after the 5th business day following separation or termination of affiliation, Parking & Transportation will not issue a refund for that month.
6. Permit parking Policies are in effect at all times throughout the year, notwithstanding the academic calendar or special events that may be taking place on University property or in University parking facilities.
7. It is the driver’s responsibility to find a legal, marked parking space and to park the entire vehicle within the boundary lines. If a vehicle experiences mechanical failure, it is the owner’s/driver’s responsibility to have the vehicle removed as soon as possible, and to notify Parking & Transportation and the University Police.
8. Parking Permits are not transferrable.
9. Upon receiving a fourth citation your vehicle will be immobilized.
10. Permit Refund Request: All parking refund requests must be accompanied by proof of purchase(e.g., cancelled check, credit card receipt or sales receipt from Parking & Transportation), or they will not be processed.
11. Special Parking Provisions. Any special parking provisions must be made and confirmed with Parking & Transportation Services.
    1. Visitors: Departments may purchase visitor parking passes from Parking & Transportation for special guests upon a space-available basis. If known in advance when visitors will need of parking, please contact Parking & Transportation. Once these arrangements are made, they cannot be cancelled and Parking & Transportation Services will not issue a refund. (The parking meters and time signs on Frew, Tech and Margaret Morrison Streets are under the authority of the City of Pittsburgh and are not affected by Carnegie Mellon visitor passes.) Guests are subject to all parking regulations; and it is the responsibility of the department or the individual who arranges for visitor parking, to make the parking rules and regulations known to visitors. Copies of the Policies may be obtained online at www.cmu.edu. Reservations involving 50 or more visitors will require use of a valet service.
    2. University Center Parking Guidelines: There are 7 metered parking spaces located inside the University Center parking area facing the stadium field. These meters are 2-hour meters and are enforced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The meter rate is a quarter for 15 minutes. If there is a meter that is not functioning properly, please notify Parking & Transportation Services immediately.  Meters are serviced on a regular basis.   Parking & Transportation Services has the authority to determine if the meters may be used for Visitor’s Parking for oversized vehicles that cannot park in the Garage. The area facing the University Center driveway is designated for loading and unloading. Additionally, the circular drive area is a pedestrian drop-off and pick-up, 5 minute limit only.  Vehicles must be occupied and the flashers must be on.  The area is not for service vehicle parking, deliveries or short-term parking. Violators will be ticketed.
       1. Delivery area is identified as the loading dock.
       2. The area adjacent to the loading dock (behind the Weigand Gymnasium) is for Carnegie Mellon business vehicles (FMS, Postal Services, Catering, and Retail Services) only.  Any outside repair/ maintenance service companies must receive permission from the Parking & Transportation Services Office to park in this area and conduct their business.  The designated signs identify this area.
       3. Vendors or event sponsors, who are working in the University Center and need to park vehicles, are required to purchase a parking pass from the personnel in the Parking & Transportation Office and park in designated parking lots or the garage.
       4. Vendors with the mini-universal parking passes, who are making deliveries (limited to 1 hour), are to use the designated loading dock area.  If they need to spend additional time in the building to conduct business, they are required to re-park their vehicles in a designated lot or garage.
    3. Reserved Parking Spaces: There are spaces reserved in the Porter/Wean, Fine Arts, Donner, Hamburg Hall, the University Center and Fraternity parking lots for permit holders only. These spaces have signs posted that state, “Spaces reserved for permit holders only, enforced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by Security. All violators will be towed.”
    4. Off-Campus Employee Parking: Employees, who need to go off campus or who need to do business on campus, must follow these procedures as outlined below. Any employee with a valid Carnegie Mellon parking permit, who parks in an off-campus location (Whitfield, Dithridge St. Garage, 6555 Penn Avenue, PTC, PPG) is eligible to park only in spaces designated in off-campus employee parking area with their regular permit. An off-campus employee who is not in the parking system and wishes to park in any lot or garage that is part of the University parking system must pay for parking at the prevailing rate.
       1. East Campus Garage: Enter the East Campus Garage, take a parking ticket and park in any space marked specifically for “off-campus employees.” Prior to exiting the garage, please visit the parking office located in the garage to have your ticket validated accordingly.
       2. Dithridge Street Garage: Parkers must obtain an off-campus employee parking permit at the Parking & Transportation Office in the University Center prior to going to the Dithridge Street Garage. When entering the Dithridge Street Garage, take a ticket, and park in any non-reserved space. When exiting the garage, proceed to the pay station, take the pulled ticket and insert into the pay station, which will display the amount due, insert the validation ticket, which will validate the amount due. The pay station will return a ticket to exit the garage.
       3. 6555 Penn Avenue: Park your car in any non-reserved space, obtain an off-campus employee permit from the receptionist and place the permit on the dashboard.
       4. PTC 2nd Avenue:  Park your vehicle in one of the visitor spaces in the lot.  Report to the receptionist desk and obtain a “visitors hang tag” to be placed in your vehicle.  Any vehicle that does not display this visitor’s permit will be issued a citation.
    5. Groups and Special Events: Departments may submit a parking request to the Parking & Transportation Office for groups conducting special events on campus. The Parking & Transportation Office must receive any requests in writing, as soon as confirmation of the event has occurred, or at least three days in advance. To make a reservation, send your request to: parking-reservations@andrew.cmu.edu.  Once the reservation request is fulfilled, Parking & Transportation Services will not issue any refunds. Requests will be made on a first-come, first-serve, space available basis. Guests are subject to all parking regulations; it is the responsibility of the department or individual, who arranges for visitor parking to make the Policies known to the guests. Vendors or event sponsors, who are working in the University Center or elsewhere on campus, are required to pay the prevailing parking rates. If requesting a congress card (e.g., a card which permits repeated access during a defined timeframe) for your guests, the charge will be $10.00. All validation tickets purchased are valid during the parking year (July 1 through June 30).
    6. Service, Construction and Vendor Vehicles: All service, construction and vendor vehicles must obtain a permit to park for use in any Carnegie Mellon lot with the exception of the East Campus Garage. If purchasing a mini-universal permit, this permit will allow access to all Carnegie Mellon lots as follows:
       1. All Carnegie Mellon owned licensed vehicles are required to purchase a mini-universal permit to gain access to lots. All vehicles will be registered in the Parking & Transportation Office and will be given one permit per vehicle.
       2. All construction vehicles marked or unmarked must obtain a permit to gain access to lots on campus.
       3. All vendors with marked vehicles (Frito-Lay, Coca Cola, etc.) may use the appropriate loading zones at each building. Any vendor, who is coming to a meeting or is spending more than 15 minutes at one location, will have to pay to park in the visitor’s parking area in the garage.
    7. Car Pools: The Parking & Transportation Office will grant gate access to each carpool member, either using their CMU ID+ card or using an alternative parking card in their assigned lot location. Only one car from the pool may occupy space in the assigned lot on any given day. This car must display the permit on the rear-view mirror.  Each carpooler will also be given validation tickets, which entitles them to park in the East Campus Garage, a total of three (3) times during the parking year.
    8. Disabilities: The University allocates spaces in Carnegie Mellon parking areas in accessible locations for employees, students, and visitors with disabilities. Requests for all accommodations, short or long term, must be sent to Equal Opportunity Services (EOS) at (412) 268-2013, or by contacting lpowell@andrew.cmu.edu. Appropriate documentation (including but not limited to a physician’s certified note) must be presented, when requesting short-term or long-term disability parking. Accommodations for disabilities that will last less than 4 weeks in duration will not be charged the difference in permit price if a lot change is necessary. Otherwise, the University will charge the permitting fee appropriate for the location of the space provided as an accommodation.
    9. Special Restriction Parking: The University reserves the right to restrict parking for special maintenance, snow removal and other activities deemed appropriate by the University. When restrictions occur, the Parking & Transportation Office coordinates alternative parking arrangements for people holding valid permits. Since permit holders will be provided with a parking space in an alternative location, Parking & Transportation does not reimburse the customer.
    10. Snow Emergency: A snow emergency is 10 inches or more of snow in a 24-hour period. Following is a list of procedures that will take place in the event of a snow emergency:
        1. A pole and chain will be put up to block the entrances to Morewood and Fine Arts in the event of a snow emergency.
        2. Security will provide personnel to direct permit holders into other lots, when Morewood and Fine Arts are chained off.
        3. Parking will be available in lots that are cleared first. No car will be ticketed, as long as it has a hanging tag for that day.
        4. Morewood and Fine Arts will be given high priority for snow removal. People coming to work early, will be instructed to park in the garage until the lots are cleared.
        5. Cars that are obstructing the cleaning of Morewood and Fine Arts, will be towed to a corner of the lot or to the East Campus Garage. Owners of vehicles blocking the lots will be notified to move their cars. Failure to do so may result in the towing of the vehicle at the owner’s expense.
    11. Motorcycles: All motorcycles parking on campus must have a valid motorcycle permit. Purchase of this permit enables motorcycles to be parked in certain areas as specified below. The cost of the permit is $280.00 per year.  Motorcycles are characterized as any bike, which carries gasoline.  Any motorcycle parked on the sidewalk, bicycle racks or abutting building will be issued a citation.  Mopeds are not considered motorcycles.  Mopeds much display a moped license plate.  If you hold a regular vehicle permit in any lot in which there are motorcycle spaces (East Campus Garage, Porter-Wean, Hamburg and Fine Arts), Parking & Transportation will issue a motorcycle permit at no additional charge to you, but this will entitle you only to park in the same lot in which your regular permit entitles you to park. If you do not hold a regular vehicle permit, you will be charged the annual $280.00 fee and you will be permitted to park only in the University Center lot.
    12. Flyers:  Please be advised that organizations in and around the campus community are not permitted to place advertisement flyers on vehicles in any of the parking areas.  If an organization wishes to have their event advertised, please contact the Parking & Transportation Services office to make arrangements. 
    13. Ticketing/Booting/Towing:  All vehicles that have three or more citations will be ticketed and booted.  Any vehicle that is booted and the boot not removed within 24-hours will continue to be ticketed each day for 3 consecutive days. All booted vehicle fees must be paid for by cash or credit card only. Any vehicle that has a boot on it after the third day will be towed, at the owner’s expense.  Vehicles are towed by Craig’s Towing and can be retrieved by calling (412) 681-7007.