University of Central Florida
08/02/2024 | Press release | Archived content
Everything You Need to Know About UCF Transportation and Parking
Navigating campus transportation can sometimes be challenging. To help make it easier, this list covers the transportation rules, practices and tips you need get to class on time and avoid a parking citation.
Permits | Parking | Buses and Shuttles | Alternative Transportation
Permits
Virtual Parking Permits - In order to attain parking access on campus, a parking permit is required. The department has implemented virtual parking permits for students and employees. If you are new to campus, you must register your vehicle and purchase a virtual permit. Students and employees can purchase a 150-day or 365-day permit.
Once permits are purchased at parking.ucf.edu, your vehicle's license plate is your parking permit. Remember to park nose-in where your vehicle plate is facing the drive lanes.
All parking permits are validated through License Plate Recognition (LPR) software by scanning license plates that are registered within the parking system.
For the LPR system to identify if your vehicle has an active permit, drivers must parking nose-in. Virtual permits will expire based on type of permit purchased, excluding vendor permits.
Daily, 150-day and 365-day virtual permits are active upon purchase.
Individuals who would like to register a second vehicle to their account can do so for an additional fee of $15. The second vehicle must be owned and registered to the original permit holder or within the same household. The second registration will expire on the same date as the first permit. While the use virtual permits remove the need to transfer parking permits between vehicles, only one vehicle per account can be parked on any one of the UCF campuses (Downtown, Health Sciences, Main, Research Park and Rosen College) at a time. If shared vehicles are found parked on campuses at the same time, the account-holder will be subject to $100 parking citation.
If your vehicle is in the shop for repairs, the account holder can do a temporary vehicle change by manually switching the vehicle's tag number online. This temporary change is permitted up to three times for a 150-day permit and six times for the 365-day permit.
Pricing for 150-day and 365-day permits vary depending on the type of permit purchased, such as Resident and commuting students. If you are not planning to be on campus frequently for Fall, consider purchasing virtual daily permits.
For more information about virtual permits and pricing at UCF, visit parking.ucf.edu or contact Parking Services at [email protected] , or by calling 407-823-5812.
Accessible Parking Permits - Individuals who possess a valid state-issued (blue) disabled placard or a temporary (red) state disabled placard assigned to their name. Disabled placards are issued by The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) not the university. Individual is required to purchase a UCF parking permit of appropriate classification, i.e., Employee or Student, or Daily Visitor to park on the campus. Individuals with such appropriate permit may park in any available disabled parking space on the campus. In the event that no designated accessible spaces are available, parking in a valid non-reserved, non-marked parking space close to your destination is allowed.
Commuting Students - Students traveling to main campus must purchase a General/Student parking permit and park in designated General/Student lots and garages. Commuting students at the Rosen, Lake Nona and UCF Downtown campuses must also purchase General/Student permits.
Altamonte Springs, Ocala, Sanford/Lake Mary, South Lake, Valencia East, Valencia Osceola and Valencia West campus students must obtain a free permit from the office designated for their campus. Please note that these permits are not valid on UCF's Main campus.
Daily Permit - Daily virtual parking passes are available for purchase on the parking.ucf.edu website.
Daily permits are $8 and are valid for 24-hours from the time of purchase. Please note overnight parking is not allowed in garages D, H and F on UCF Main campus and the Amelia and Parramore garages at UCF Downtown from midnight to 6 a.m. Once purchased online, your license plate is your permit.
Main Campus and Rosen Campus Residents - Students who live on main and Rosen campuses must park in the designated spaces for their assigned housing community Monday through Friday between 7:00 am and 5:30 pm. Vehicles parked in designated residential areas without a valid residential permit are subject to tow.On weekdays, campus residents are not allowed to park in student or employee spaces, including the general parking lots and garages, and will be subject to parking citations before 5:30 pm. However, after 5:30 pm and on weekends campus residents may park in any student, or employee spaces.
UnionWest Residents - Students who live at UCF Downtown's UnionWest at Creative Village community must lease a space from the UnionWest garage since it is the only overnight-parking option on campus. UnionWest parking leases must be paid on a monthly basis and will provide students with a UnionWest permit, which is not valid in UCF parking garages or lots on any campus.
Back-in parking is not allowed on any of UCF's campuses. The proper way to park is nose-in, back-out, effective Summer 2019. (Photo by Lauren Schoepfer '17)Parking
UCF mobile App UCF Mobile app. - Visit the Parking icon - Find out how many spaces are available in each parking garage on main campus, various parking maps. Under Notifications, select "Explore all Channels", select Parking Availability Updates. By opt-in, you will receive parking availability notifications and updates as they happen.
The sun shines over Dr. Phillips Academic Commons on the UCF Downtown campus. (Photo by Nick Leyva '15)UCF Downtown- With a valid UCF permit, students at UCF Downtown may park in the Amelia I garage (listed as PG3 on the map below) on Amelia Street.
To enter the Amelia Garage, turn right onto Alexander Place from N. Hughey Avenue. Turn right again onto Ronald Blocker Ave. The entrance is on your right-hand side. When exiting the garage, you will exit onto Ronald Blocker Ave., but can only turn right. Please view the map below for directions on how to enter the Amelia Parking Garage.
Secondary parking is also available in UCF's Parramore garage (listed as PG1 on the map below) located off North Parramore Avenue and Bentley Street.
Additional garage, lot, and street parking may be found throughout the downtown area, but they will be at your own expense.
Metered and Mobile Payment Parking - Drivers must pay for parking at designated spaces by using the ParkMobile app or by scanning the QR code on the signs by the designated spaces. Street parking on East Plaza Drive and West Plaza Drive near the Addition Financial Arena is complimentary from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm daily. Drivers will have to pay to use the meters during other hours. Be sure to abide by all signs near metered parking spaces to avoid citations.
Nose-in Parking - Back-in parking is not allowed on any UCF campus. The proper way to park your vehicle in all lots and garages is nose-in and tail-out. Failure to adhere to the policy will result in a parking citation.
A shuttle outside of Millican Hall. (Photo by Nick Leyva '15)Buses and Shuttles
UCF buses and shuttles operate only when UCF is in session. Please refer to the UCF Academic Calendar for their schedule. For safety reasons, riders must show drivers their valid UCF ID prior to boarding UCF shuttles. Shuttles do not operate during campus closures on holidays.
UCF Mobile Tracking- You can use the Shuttles icon on the UCF Mobile app to keep track of the shuttles schedules and stops, as well as see how far shuttles are from you in real time.
Feel free to send feedback on any of UCF's shuttles to [email protected]
Downtown Shuttles - Shuttles operate between UCF's main and downtown campuses Monday through Thursday with varying hours between 6:30 am and 10:30 pm . On Fridays, the shuttle operates Friday from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm .
Main campus departures take place at the LYNX Transit Center (between Parking Garages A and I). Drop-offs and pick-ups for the downtown campus will be on Livingston Street in front of Dr. Phillips Academic Commons.
Grocery Shuttles - On Tuesdays, UCF provides grocery shuttles on the main and downtown campuses. For main campus, shuttles run to and from the Publix Super Market located at the University Palms Shopping Center on Alafaya Trail. Grocery shuttles run every 45 minutes from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm. Stops for the grocery shuttle are located at the Marketplace, Academic Village (Nike) community, Towers (front of Addition Financial Arena), and Lake Claire.
For the UCF Downtown grocery shuttle, shuttles will travel from travel from Livingston Street, in front of the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons building to the Publix at The Paramount on Lake Eola, 400 E. Central Blvd. The shuttle runs twice per month on Tuesdays and will have two roundtrips - one departing campus at 12:30 pm and the second departing at 8:30 pm. The shuttles will depart Publix at 1:45 pm and 9:45 pm respectively.
Health Science Campus (Lake Nona) Shuttles - Shuttles travel between the main and Lake Nona campuses Monday through Friday between 7:20 am and 6 pm. Main campus stops are at the Physical Sciences building and the Biomolecular Research Annex on Research Parkway. Lake Nona's stop is located on Laureate Boulevard.
LYNX - UCF students and employees can ride all LYNX routes for free, whether they're near campus or not, with a valid UCF ID. The LYNX Central Station is also a five-minute walk from UCF Downtown.
RedCoach - provides bus services from UCF to South Florida, Tallahassee and Gainesville in business class seats. Purchase tickets online. https://parking.ucf.edu/transportation/redcoach-bus-service/
LYMMO - The free LYMMO lines are an easy, convenient way to get around downtown Orlando, with two lines stopping at UCF Downtown. The rapid transport system operates from 6:00 am to 10:45 pm on weekdays, with hours varying on the weekend. LYMMO operates out of the same system as LYNX, so the same safety precautions are in places on these buses as well.
Intra Campus Pegasus Express - These on-campus shuttles will run counterclockwise around the university from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm during the fall and spring semesters. In the summer, the shuttle runs Monday through Friday from 7:00 am until 4:00 pm and follow the UCF Academic calendar for operation.
Rosen Campus Shuttles - During the fall and spring, shuttles travel between main campus and the Rosen campus Monday through Thursday between 6:45 am and 9:15 pm. In the summer, the shuttle runs Monday through Thursday from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm.
Main campus departures are in the Pegasus Circle and Aquarius Agora Drive roundabout located behind the Student Union. Drop-offs for Rosen campus are at the main entrance and departs from the main parking lot.
Off-Campus Shuttles- Students who live at select off-campus housing communities near main campus can leave their cars parked at their residence and take advantage of complimentary shuttles that will drop them off on campus. These shuttles operate Monday through Thursday from 6:30 am to 10 pm and Friday from 6:30 am to 8 pm and follow the UCF Academic calendar for operation.
Alternative Transportation
Bikes - There are 65 bike racks on campus that are free to use. Bikes should be locked to the racks using U-bolt lock and cable combinations. Locking bikes to anything other than the racks will cause them to be impounded.
Students with a valid UCF ID can also take advantage of SG's free Bike N' Gold bike share program as alternative to driving. Bikes can be rented for a week, month or semester from the Bike N' Gold shop, which is located on the first floor of the Student Union.
Bike N' Gold will operate 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Monday through Friday. Weekly check-ins at the bike shop are required to ensure the bike is in proper working condition. Students may come, free of charge, and have their bikes repaired with quality service by our Bike Repair Team. Services include: Inflate tires, change tubes, brake adjustments, tighten crankset, loose handlebars, adjust gears, and brake cable installation.
Lyft- SG has partnered with Lyft to provide students with discounts for the ride-sharing app. Using a unique code each month, students may receive $7.50 off rides that occur on Fridays and Saturdays from 8:00 pm to 3:00 am.
The codes are only valid for two rides each month and the rides must be within a specific zone around UCF. Students must also use the business setting within the Lyft app to use these discounts.
Skateboards - Skateboarders must use sidewalks and crosswalks and yield the right of way to pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.
Spin Scooters - Spin scooters will be available to help students better navigate the university's 1,415-acre main campus. The scooters will operate from 5:00 am to 11:00 pm, will only be operational on campus, and require downloading the Spin app, which is available on Android and Apple devices. Scooters will be available at 15 charging stations across campus and will cost $1 to unlock and $0.15 per minute to ride. For more info on Spin scooters, email [email protected].
Spin scooters have a speed limit of 8 mph across the inner core of campus, 10 mph throughout the general campus, and 15 mph on Gemini Boulevard.
Car Trouble? If you're having issues with your vehicle, Parking and Transportation Services provides motorist assistance with battery jumps, tire inflations, finding your vehicle or opening your locked doors. Simply can call UCFPD's non-emergency number, 407-823-5555, and they can dispatch a patroller to assist you.