Parking and Commuting

First-year law students are not eligible for parking permits on campus at this time, except for those with a hardship or medical disability. The vast majority of first-year students will not obtain parking permits.

Applications for hardship parking will be available in late spring, and will be posted on the Admitted Students Page of the UNC School of Law website. In the past, difficulties or obligations such as an extraordinary commute or family obligations have often been accepted as hardships. There is no guarantee, however, that you will receive a hardship permit based on any one condition. There are a limited number of hardship parking permits available and decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. If you have a medical disability, you should contact the Department of Public Safety at 919-962-3951/3952.

Students living on campus in the dormitories should contact the Office of Student Affairs for parking instructions.

The primary law school permit allocation is distributed each year based on a lottery system. Priority is given to third-year students. First year students are not eligible to apply for parking through the lottery system until classes begin. After classes begin, first year students will become eligible to place their names on a waiting list for any permits that have not been assigned to upper-level students. Waiting list priority is also given to upper-level students. Therefore, the chances of a first-year student receiving a permit through the waiting list system are very slim.

Please plan your method of arrival to the law school in advance. Parking regulations on campus will be enforced during Orientation. Again, first-year students are not eligible for parking permits on campus at this time, except for medical disabilities or for situations involving hardship. Therefore, please make arrangements to park off campus, take public transportation, or have someone drop you off at the law school for Orientation.

Commuter Alternatives Program

The Commuter Alternatives Program (CAP) is free and available to students who do not have a permit to park on campus. CAP encourages all forms of alternative transportation, including bicycling, walking, transit, park and ride, carpool and vanpool. Most first-year law students choose to commute to and from school using the Chapel Hill Transit System and/or one of the town's Park and Ride lots with bus service to the University. The transit system offers FARE FREE BUS SERVICE for all routes. Park and Ride lots and transit routes can be found here: http://www.chtransit.org/.

The lots with the most convenient bus service to the law school are the NC 54 lot and the Friday Center lot. These two lots are adjacent to one another and off NC 54. Please note that these lots fill up quickly in the mornings during the school year. If you are coming from south of Chapel Hill, there are two park and ride lots: the Southern Village Park and Ride lot which is located in the Southern Village subdivision off US 15-501, and the Chatham Park and Ride lot further south off US 15-501, near the Cole Park Plaza shopping center.

Please note that there are two types of Park and Ride lots served by Chapel Hill Transit: those operated by the University, which require a permit, and those operated by the town of Chapel Hill, which do not. The NC 54 lot is a town lot and requires no permit, but it has fewer spaces than the Friday Center lot and usually fills up first. The Southern Village lot is a town lot, which also requires no permit, but it can also fill up in the mornings. The Chatham lot is a university lot and requires a permit. We recommend that you register with the CAP program through the Department of Public Safety, in order to park in University lots. This free service will provide you with the permit necessary to park in both Friday Center Park and Ride lots and the other University Park and Ride Lots.

Student registration for CAP begins in mid-summer. There is no limit on the permits given. In order to register, you will need your PID (Personal ID Number) and a local address. Please visit the home page of the Department of Public Safety to register for a permit: http://www.dps.unc.edu/Transit/gettingtowork/CAP/cap.cfm.

We understand that the Park and Ride system is rather confusing to the uninitiated. Be assured that we are trying to assist you in finding the most convenient way to commute to campus. If you have any additional questions or concerns about commuting, please contact the Department of Public Safety at 919-962-3951/3952 or cap@unc.edu.