Annual Parking Permit Application Process

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Policy Number:
UW-6111
Old Policy Number:
TS-31
Responsible Office:
Transportation Services

University Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

Parking permits are assigned on an annual basis for the period September 1 through August 31. Customers must apply to be considered for an annual parking permit offer. There is limited parking available, so a priority system is used to assign parking to a limited number of applicants.

Definitions:
OTU (Offers per Transportation Unit)
  • Each parking offer made to applicants in a specific Transportation Unit is counted.
  • The total number of offers per Transportation Unit is determined after the initial round of offers.
  • The OTU is a rolling average of offers made for the past three (3) parking years.
Transportation Unit
  • A group of employees from the same supervisory structure, as defined by their UDDS or their placement in the Workday Supervisory Organization Structure, who are managed by a Unit Transportation Coordinator.
Unit Transportation Coordinator (UTC)
  • Department/Division/School/College liaisons who enable UW-Madison Transportation Services to provide information, problem-solving, and customer service to campus units and their employees. UTCs are responsible for assigning local prioritization for their assigned unit.
Scope:

Applicants to UW-Madison Transportation Services for base lot, flex, park and ride, remote lot, and business alternate parking permits.

Policy:
  1. Annual Application Process
    1. New annual permit applications received after the application deadline will not be processed until the next round of annual permit offers.
    2. New applications for the current permit year will be processed throughout the parking year as parking becomes available.
    3. All annual permit applications must be prioritized by a UTC before the application can be processed and considered for a parking permit assignment.
    4. Applicants must claim parking assignments by the posted deadline or the assignment will be offered to the next applicant(s) on the waitlist.
      1. If an applicant fails to respond or chooses not to accept their offered assignment by the posted deadline, their assignment will expire. Applicants must re-apply to be considered for a parking assignment.
    5. Permit holders may need to re-apply if they want to be considered for a parking permit in a lot other than their current parking assignment. The current assigned parking permit may be held until a new offer is accepted by the customer.
    6. Permit holders must pay all outstanding balances to be eligible to apply for an annual parking permit.
    7. Waitlists are processed and parking assignments are offered approximately every two weeks throughout the academic year. Applicants may contact their UTC for waitlist processing dates.
  2. Parking Priority
    1. Transportation units have the responsibility to assign local priority numbers for valid applicants.
    2. Unit Transportation Coordinators (UTCs) are responsible for applying their unit’s priority criteria to all new and existing staff who request parking. The UTC must assign an individual local priority number beginning with #1 (highest priority). The list is provided to UW-Madison Transportation Services for calculating global priority. Applicants with higher global priority numbers have a better chance to receive a parking assignment in the lot/location of their choice.
    3. Transportation units and UTCs are responsible for explaining their priority-setting process and criteria used to all employees applying for parking and must submit criteria to UW-Madison Transportation Services upon request.
    4. UW-Madison Transportation Services is not responsible for and cannot make changes to an established priority list as submitted by the individual transportation units and UTCs.
    5. UW-Madison Transportation Services is responsible for calculating global priority numbers and assuring fair and consistent application of the formula.
    6. Priority Restrictions:
      1. Undergraduate students are not eligible for a priority number (See UW-6142 Student Annual Permits). Students must apply through the student parking process.
      2. Employees must have valid employment, emeritus status, or authorization to be considered for parking.
  3. Parking Priority Calculations
    1. Parking assignments can only be made for applicants affiliated with an approved agency or with a valid student status at UW-Madison.
    2. Parking assignments are based on the employee’s priority or the date of application for students.
    3. A standard formula is used to determine global priority based on the local priority number assigned by the Unit Transportation Coordinator.
    4. The priority formula is calculated based on the number of Offers per Transportation Unit (OTU).
    5. Priority Number (PN) represents the unique number in the local Transportation Unit for that offer round assigned to each applicant by the Unit Transportation Coordinator.
    6. Units may appeal the assigned OTU to Transportation Services. Appeals will be reviewed based on sizeable changes in the unit applicant base.
    7. Priority Formula:
      Global Priority = PN x 100/OTU
Related UW-Madison Policies:
Related UW–Madison Documents, Web Pages, or Other Resources:

Transportation Services Parking Priority

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Assistant Vice Chancellor of UW-Madison Transportation Services
Policy Manager:
Director of Parking Operations
Contact:
Assistant Director of Parking Services -- David Berland, david.berland@wisc.edu, (608) 263-6667
Effective Date:
04-01-2001
Revised Dates:

03-01-2003, 05-19-2022, 06-21-2023, 04-22-2025

 

Retrieved:
07-04-2025 12:17:48