Parking & Transportation Resources
UW residents and fellows have many options for commuting to and parking at University of Washington Medical Center-Montlake (UWMC-Montlake), Harborview Medical Center (HMC) and other training sites. It is our goal to provide easy access to parking for all residents and fellows, regardless of their primary work location.
Residents and fellows who wish to park at both UWMC and HMC will need to purchase separate parking passes for each site. Residents and fellows who are required to travel to a second training site in the same day in order to attend conferences, education and administrative meetings, or clinic will be provided with pre-paid parking at the second site or will be reimbursed by their program within two months of submitting a receipt for parking at the second site. Parking will be provided for residents and fellows returning to the hospital while on home-call at no charge within specified hours at UWMC and HMC.
Parking Options at UW Training Sites
UWMC - Montlake
Residents and fellows have several options for parking at UWMC-Montlake.
Pay-Per-Use Parking (PPUP) Program
The Pay-Per-Use Parking (PPUP) program is charged through payroll deduction. You must have a UW Husky ID Card in order to be issued PPUP. Once you receive confirmation of successful PPUP registration from UW Transportation Services, you may enter the garage by swiping your UW Husky ID Card – charges are tabulated each pay-period based on usage. This parking program allows same-day in-&-out privileges (for single occupancy vehicle entry only, not available for carpools) and must be renewed by the end of June each year. Parking is available in the Portage Bay Parking Facility.
- Portage Bay Parking Facility: located west of UWMC, on NE Pacific St. between University Way NE and Brooklyn Avenue NE.
- PPUP Cost: $8.75
PPUP registration is available through the Transportation Services website starting in late June (during orientation). Requests submitted after orientation period may be subject to waitlisting, depending on space availability.
Free Night, Weekend, and On-Call Parking
(Triangle Garage)
Hours
- Nights: 4 pm – 8 am, Monday – Friday
- Weekends: 12 am Saturday – 11:59 pm Sunday
Details:
UWMC-Montlake: When a resident enters the Triangle Garage between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. or on a weekend, they will take a ticket at the gate but will not pay. To exit the Triangle Garage, a resident will stop at the kiosk and obtain a card for exiting the garage gate for free.
If the resident exits after 8 a.m. they will be charged for the portion of time that fell outside of the free parking hours. If the resident had to stay past 8 am due to scheduled or emergent patient care needs, they may seek reimbursement from their program for the parking charge. Programs are required to reimburse residents within 30 days of receiving eligible receipts.
Residents are not allowed to park in the Triangle Garage during weekday day shifts and residents who do so may be subject to corrective action. Residents should consult with their programs regarding any additional on-call parking instruction.
S-1 Lot
Located behind UWMC. On-call residents/fellows may park here at no charge from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Monday through Friday, and from 12:00 noon Saturday to 6:00 a.m. Monday.
If you arrive before these hours or work after, you must pay for parking, move your vehicle to the Portage Bay Parking Facility if you are a UW PPUP member, or move to a permit lot (if you have a quarterly permit). If you have a valid, solid-colored HMC permit (not PPUP or on-call) you may park in S-1 at no additional charge after 4 p.m. weekdays, or anytime during the weekends.
Note on HMC Parking Permits
Parking privileges on the UW Seattle main campus are not granted to holders of Harborview permits with horizontal stripes (on-call and PPUP); if you have a Harborview permit with horizontal stripes, you must stop at a campus gatehouse and purchase parking for the day. Holders of other types of Harborview parking permits have limited parking privileges on the UW Seattle main campus: parking in S-1, E-10, and E-12 only, on a space-available basis, between 4:00 pm and 7:30 am weekdays and on weekends.
UWMC - Northwest
Parking is available for free at UWMC – Northwest. All staff/faculty parking, including residents and fellows, is in the large parking garage located in the southwest corner of the campus. Residents and fellows should not park in the surface lots that are spread out throughout the campus, as these are reserved for patients and their visitors. There is no room to accommodate additional vehicles in these areas.
You must request to have parking added to your badge from Public Safety/parking office. This badge can then be used to enter and exit the campus by scanning it on the parking machines.
For those biking to work, there is a secured bicycle storage house located on the 1st floor, Southeast corner of the parking garage. The bike house is complete with racks and simple tools for most of your bicycle needs. To obtain access to the bike house, please email either Joshua Kinman at jkinman9@uw.eduor Deborah Wheat at dwheat3@uw.edu so that they may add it to your Husky Card.
To help accommodate UWMC NW staff commutes, King County Metro provides frequent connections between the Northgate Link Light Rail station and the UWMC NW Campus. Route 345, which comes onto the NW campus, and route 346, which drops off and picks up at the corner of 115th and Meridian have additional scheduled routes during peak hours.
Please see the below links to the schedules for routes 345 and 346, as well as the schedule for Link Light Rail:
- King County Metro Route 345
- King County Metro Route 346
- Sound Transit Light Rail 1 Line – Northgate – Angle Lake
Additional resources to plan your commute to the UW Medical Center NW Campus:
Harborview Medical Center
Residents and fellows have several options for parking at Harborview
Pay Per Use Parking (PPUP)
Residents and fellows must apply for a Harborview PPUP permit by contacting the Harborview Parking and Commuter Services Office. With the PPUP Program, residents and fellows will have access to all garages M-F at night and on the weekends. Garage assignments for M-F during the day will be assigned based on capacity and availability at the time a permit is requested. (locations are listed below).
PPUP fees are deducted from your paycheck once per month. The fees are calculated at the end of the month and deducted on the paycheck on the 10th. A “use” at Harborview is defined as a 24-hour period starting at the time you first enter the parking lot and includes in-and-out privileges. The rate for parking M-F during the day with PPUP is $8.75/day. Nights and weekends are free. Harborview caps the total PPUP charges at the Harborview monthly staff parking rate.
For residents and fellows who are not UW employees prepaid PPUP parking can be purchased at the HMC Parking Office.
Short Term Parking without Permit
- If you are parking less than four hours, M-F, during the day, we recommend pulling a ticket and paying the garage rate of $7 or less (depending on the duration). If you plan to exceed this duration, use your PPUP permit or bring your receipt to the HMC parking office on your next visit to refund the difference between what you paid and 8.75. Short term parking can only be accommodated in the View Park, NJB, and Pat Steel parking garages because it requires pulling a ticket.
- You may also pull a ticket and visit the parking office prior to leaving to purchase the prepaid PPUP ticket to avoid going through the refund process. The booths are unstaffed and the system will not know if you are a resident.
For more information about parking rates, or if you have any parking issues, please contact Parking and Commuter Services at 206.744.3254.
Garage Locations
24/7
- Boren Garage: Entrance on Terrace Street between Boren Avenue and Terry Avenue.
- Patricia Bracelin Steel Building Garage: Entrance on Jefferson Street, off of Boren Avenue.
After M-F 4:30 PM and nights/weekends/holidays
- View Park Garage: Reserved spaces are marked. Please park in general parking.
- Ninth & Jefferson Building Garage: Reserved spaces are marked. Please park in general parking.
Call boxes are located at the entry and exits to all garages with a direct line to assistance 24/7. These may also be used when an access card fails to operate.
Parking Access Key Cards
You will be issued an Access card that will give you access to the Harborview garages You must swipe your card at the card reader upon entry into the garage and exiting from the garage. If your access key card fails to work you must contact the parking office.
Standard Work Week PPUP Use
Weekday parking is defined as:
- Parked in the garage M-F between 8AM -4PM, regardless of duration.
PPUP permit holders and residents are responsible to pay $8.75 when parked in the garage anytime between 8AM and 4PM, M-F. If you enter a garage outside of these hours and stay beyond 8 AM or enter the garage before 4PM and stay after this time, you will still be charged $8.75. This includes entering on a weekend and exiting after 8AM on Monday. The charge is based on entry and exit times rather than the amount of time spent in the free period.
Residents who enter the garage on M-F after 4 PM and exit before 8AM, will not be charged.
Garage Assignments:
Garage assignments during the day are based on capacity and availability. Currently, new permits for day parking are granted access to the Pat Steel and Boren parking garages.
This is subject to change as demand and occupancy levels fluctuate.
Free Nights and Weekends
Nights and weekends are defined as:
- Nights: 4 pm – 8 am, Monday-Friday
- Weekends: 12 am Saturday – 11:59 pm Sunday
Details:
Residents shall use their PPUP cards to enter and leave the garage.
- When a resident enters the parking garage after 4 p.m. or on a weekend, the resident will not be charged for parking if they exit the garage before 8 a.m. or on the weekend.
- If the resident exits after 8 a.m. for scheduled or emergent patient care and is charged an overage, the resident shall request reimbursement for such charges directly from their department. The department is required to pay this overage, and if they have any questions or concerns about this, they should direct those questions to GME.
Garage Assignments:
Residents have access to all HMC parking garages M-F when entering after 1 PM and 24/7 on weekends. Free nights and weekend rules still apply regardless of garage assignment.
On-Call Parking
Residents using on-call permits should have access to all garages 24/7. The system is unable to determine if a resident is taking call or arriving for their shift. For this reason, on-call permits are configured on separate access cards from their PPUP permit. These can be requested by the department at their discretion.
If access to the P1 or P2 garage for call during the day is required, residents should consult with their programs regarding additional on-call parking instruction which may require a separate on-call permit. Use of the PPUP permits results in the standard rates for these permits. Reimbursement for call should be directed to the department.
Seattle Children's Hospital
Parking is available for free at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Residents and fellows may park in Lot 4B is accessed through the gate at the far end of Lot 4 – Service Vehicle Parking. If Lot 4B is full you may park in the gated portion of Ocean 6. If you are unable to find a parking spot in Lot 4B (primary) or Ocean 6 (if Lot 4B is full), you may park in the north end of Lot 4 – Service Vehicle Parking or Ocean 6 Visitor Parking. Do not park in Lot 1, River Parking, Ocean 7, or Ocean 8 as these lots are reserved for patients and their families.
VA Puget Sound Health Care System
Parking is available for free at the VA. Please refer to the current VA parking information as parking location options do change.
Additional information about parking at the VA may be found on the VA intranet, accessible from VA computers.
Other Commute Options
U-PASS & Regional Transit
The U-PASS provides full fare coverage and unlimited rides on King County Metro, Link Light Rail, Water Taxis, Community Transit, Kitsap Transit, Pierce Transit, Everett Transit, Sound Transit, and Sounder trains. Other U-PASS benefits include discounts on vanpools, carpools and other special offers.
Residents and fellows who are represented by the Resident and Fellow Physician Union – Northwest (RFPU) qualify for the fully subsidized U-PASS. More information about eligibility can be found here.
For those not eligible for the fully subsidized U-PASS, one can be purchased from Transportation Services. The cost is $25 per period. Note that you must have your UW Husky ID before signing up for a U-PASS.
Biking to the UW Campus
Visit the Biking page on the Transportation Services site for information on route planning, bike racks and lockers, bike shares, and how to register your bike.
Campus Shuttles
UW and affiliated institutions offer several shuttles that provide quick service, convenient pick-up/drop-off locations, and are free! Refer to the Shuttles page for shuttle stop and schedule information.
- Health Sciences Express Shuttle (UWMC – HMC – UWMC at Roosevelt)
- South Lake Union Shuttle (SLU-FHCRC-UWMC and SLU-SCRI-HMC)
- Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Shuttle (SCCA-UWMC-SCH)
- Night Ride Shuttle (UWMC to areas within two zones in University District. U-PASS holders only. More information can be found here.)
Parking FAQs
Q: Why do I have to pay for parking and what are the fees used for? A: UW Transportation Services is self-sustaining, and relies on parking fees to maintain and develop parking facilities and services, and to support the U-PASS program. Parking fees are paid by every faculty, staff and student. Fees, fines, and transportation policies are reviewed annually by the University Transportation Committee (UTC) – comprised of representatives from the student body, faculty, and staff – and are reviewed and approved by the UW Board of Regents. Fees typically increase every year on July 1st, and factors affecting the increases include King County Metro fare increases, city sales tax, city parking taxes, and infrastructure costs. Approximately one half of all resident training sites require that residents pay for parking.
Q: How much does it cost? A: Parking rates vary by site and permit type. Please refer to the parking information for the different training sites for a breakdown on parking fees.
Q: What if I have to travel to two training sites on the same day? A: Per the terms of the Residency and Fellowship Position Appointment (RFPA), residents and fellows will be provided with pre-paid parking or will be reimbursed by their program for parking at any site at which they are required to attend conferences, education and administrative meetings, clinic, or provide call coverage when they are assigned to another location. Residents and fellows are however encouraged to use alternative transportation methods, including the free shuttles, whenever possible.
Q: What alternatives are there besides driving to work? A: Everyone is encouraged to take the bus, walk, or bike to work. Refer to the Other Commute Options above for more information.
Q: What parking safety resources are in place? A:
- The SafeZone Safety App can be downloaded on your smartphone and acts as a “virtual escort”. When outdoors on the University campus, you can activate the app to dispatch police to your exact location at the push of button. For more information go to https://www.safezoneapp.com/how-it-works.
- UW Transportation Services is adding new blue paint and blue lights to existing call box locations in the Triangle Garage and Portage Bay Garage so that they are easier to locate in an emergency. These blue light phones dial directly into UWPD dispatch. An additional call box location will be added in the Triangle garage.
- GME Emergency Safe Ride Home Program