Student Parking Contract Lottery

Note: The lottery is unavailable from 1 - 5 a.m. each night.

A parking contract offers students a guaranteed parking space 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Since contracts are in assigned facilities, you always know where to park and you are guaranteed to find a spot in that facility. It's also convenient to be able to come and go without having to pay to park each time.

Parking and Transportation Services offers student parking contracts through an online lottery system each semester. You must submit your application, get your results, order, and pay for your contract online.

Student Contract Lottery
Parking and Transportation Services administers both the Commuter Student and Residence Hall Contract Parking lotteries. Students simply log in using their X500 name and password. Commuter students must select parking contract locations in order of preference. Residence hall students answer a simple question about their facility-type preference.

Students may enter the lottery each semester, but entering does not guarantee a parking contract. Parking contracts received through the lottery are not renewable and are good for one semester only.

Contract parking locations vary each semester, but always include spaces on the East Bank, West Bank, and in St. Paul. Because some facilities do not allow for overnight and weekend parking, special parking provisions have been developed for evening and weekend reciprocity.

Students can enter the Fall 2008 lottery online anytime before July 24, 2008.

Student Parking Contract Lottery

Frequently Asked Questions

Start Dates for Fall 2008 Student Parking Contracts
August 15 - For Yudof Hall and Roy Wilkins Hall students
August 27 - All other locations for residence hall students
September 2 - All locations for commuter students

Graduate Students
Parking Contract Renewal Information
Graduate students may renew their parking contract for spring semester by sending an e-mail to parklot@umn.edu before November 21. These students may also renew for summer semester as well. The deadline for summer session is April 23. If you do not notify our department prior to the deadline, your contract will not be able to be renewed. For fall semester, the process begins anew and all students must re-enter the lottery to try for a parking contract.

GAPSA Occasional Use Parking Contract
PTS offers eligible GAPSA members an Occasional Use Parking Contract. The details of this contract are listed below:

• This contract is valid for 22 uses between the dates of September 2, 2008 through January 19, 2009.
• Keycards are programmed for use between 4:30 p.m. until midnight, Monday through Friday and all day on Saturday and Sunday.
• You may enter and exit more than once a day (during valid hours) and it will only count as one use.
• Cost is $74; the fee is charged directly to your student account. The price is NOT pro-rated (if purchased after the start of the semester). Be sure to understand these terms; contracts are non-refundable.
• You can choose to have the contract and keycard mailed to your home address or you can pick them up at the PTS Customer Service desk.
• You must choose one specific facility and parking is only valid in that facility.
• Occasional Use Parking Contract is available in the following facilities:
  • East River Road Garage (East Bank)
  • Oak Street Ramp (East Bank)
  • 4th Street Ramp (East Bank)
  • Gortner Avenue Ramp (St. Paul)
  • 21st Avenue Ramp (West Bank)
  • West Bank Office Building Ramp - lower levels only (West Bank)
• Space in a facility is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis and PTS reserves the right to limit quantity of contracts issued in each facility.
• These contracts are NOT renewable. An e-mail will be sent to all eligible GAPSA individuals on August 4 telling them details about the fall form. Again, spaces are first-come, first-serve so watch your e-mail!

After the Lottery
Contract winners will receive an e-mail notification by noon after the last day of the lottery informing them of the contract location and cost. If your name is not chosen in the first round lottery, please be patient; it may be chosen in the second or third round. Because of the second and third round lotteries, there will no longer be a waiting list for facilities.

Students are encouraged to review their status in the lottery at any time by logging into the system. Results from each of the drawing dates are available online by noon of that day (drawing dates are listed on the Terms and Conditions page).

If you are awarded and accept a parking contract, you will immediately receive a purchase confirmation e-mail. If you do not receive a purchase confirmation e-mail, log in to the lottery Web site to verify your purchase or call 612-626-PARK for assistance. The fee will automatically be charged to your university student account where students have the ability to pay for parking using an installment payment plan.

Prior to the start of the semester, commuter students will receive their keycard/hangtag by mail at the address listed on their lottery application. Residence hall students will pick up their keycard/hangtag at their hall on move-in day.

If you were not selected as a winner in the lottery, you will be sent an e-mail message notifying you of this status when the drawing window closes. Any unclaimed contracts will go on sale on a first-come, first-served basis at the PTS Customer Service Desk starting on Monday, August 25, 2008.

Winter Break Contracts
Winter break contracts can be purchased to cover the time that students are on campus between the end of fall semester and the beginning of spring semester. As a special, flexible parking program, these contract dates must be between the day after the last day of fall semester and the day before spring semester starts. Winter break contracts cannot be less than 7 days and are required to be consecutive dates.

Summer Parking Contracts
Due to lower demand for student contract parking in the summer, contracts are sold on a first-come, first served basis at our customer service desk in the Transportation and Safety Building on the East Bank campus.

Late Evening and Weekend Contracts
Need to park on campus in the evenings and/or weekends only? Contracts are available on a first-come, first-served basis in a variety of surface lots or ramps.

These contracts allow you to park between 4 p.m. and 7:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, and all day and night on weekends. This is ideal for any student who is taking or teaching evening courses, working, or going to the library during these times.

Late night bus service on the Campus Connector runs between the St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses. Another option is to use the free Campus Escort Service. Simply call 612-624-WALK (9255) or the University Hospital Escort Service at 612-273-4544, and an escort will walk you to or from your car.

Housing & Residential Life

East Bank Residence Hall Map

West Bank Residence Hall Map

St. Paul Residence Hall Map