The Ohio State University

First Year Students - First year students living in the residence halls are prohibited from purchasing parking permits for campus parking. The policy is necessary due to a continued increase in residence hall overnight parking requirements concurrent with reduced parking availability on campus.

To meet the many competing demands for a limited parking resource, first year students living in the residence halls will not be permitted to bring a vehicle to campus or purchase an OSU parking permit. Please contact T&P at tpinfo@osu.edu or call 614-292-9341 (or toll free 1-800-877-PARK) with questions, concerns or alternative transportation and parking options. In addition, the South Campus Gateway Garage has limited space availability in their facility.  For more information on the Gateway Garage, please contact Parking Solutions at (614) 247-5888.

Please note: The number of credit hours accumulated does not change the permit eligibility status of First Year Students living in the residence halls. (For example, a First Year Student living in the residence halls who has 50 credit hours still cannot purchase a parking permit.)

Alternative Transportation Options
The Campus Area Bus Service (CABS) provides convenient transportation on the Columbus Campus. For more information or specific routes, please visit our CABS site.

COTA (the Central Ohio Transit Authority) has a special partnership with The Ohio State University to provide unlimited rides on all COTA routes to OSU students at a discounted rate of $9.00 per quarter (through a mandatory student fee paid with your tuition). Simply present your student BuckID to the bus operator when you board and you ride for free. COTA also provides a shuttle to and from the airport at the beginning and ending of every quarter for students flying into Columbus. For more information or specific routes, please visit the COTA web site.

Also, please visit our Alternate Transit site for additional transit opportunities, such as Flexcar, Motorcycles, and Bicycles.

Sophomore Students - Sophomores are eligible to purchase a "WC5" parking permit. This permit allows the permit holder to store their vehicle in the overnight storage lot (Carmack 5) on West Campus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After 4:00PM, students may park in unrestricted "A", "B", and "C" spaces on Central Campus until 3:00AM. On weekends, "WC5" permit holders may also park in unrestricted "A", B", and "C" spaces on Central Campus from 4:00PM on Friday until 3:00AM on Monday morning.* ("CP” spaces are not available to “WC5” permit holders for overnight parking. "CP" spaces are reserved for the "CP" permit holders from 6:00PM - 3:00AM seven days a week and all day on weekends and holidays.)

Junior and Above Students - Junior and above students have the option to purchase either the "WC5" parking permit (see above) or the "CP" Central Campus Proximity parking permit (limited availability).  The "CP" parking permit allows the permit holder 24 hour access to the "CP" parking spaces on Central Campus. In addition, the "CP" permit has the same access as a "C" permit, allowing parking in "C" areas from 5:00AM - 3:00AM and access to unrestricted "A" and "B" spaces from 4:00PM - 3:00AM.  On weekends, "CP" permit holders may also park in unrestricted "A", B", and "C" spaces on Central Campus from 4:00PM on Friday until 3:00AM on Monday morning.*

"CP Permit Change
The “CP” permit has been divided into three different parking permits, which will be noted with the letter depicting the area (North, South and Towers) added to the CP prefix. Parking locations will be signed to correspond with these locations.

For overnight parking (defined as after 3am and until 5am M-F)

• CPN permit holders will be limited to the CP spaces on the north part of the campus, which for the 2009-10 academic year is limited to the lot next to Taylor Tower (72 spaces).
• CPS permits will be limited to the CP lots on south campus, which can be found between 11th and 10th Ave.
• CPT permit holders will be limited to the CP lots near the Lincoln and Morrill Towers, which can be found in the Sisson Hall lot off of Coffey Road.

In addition to these areas listed above, “CPN”, “CPS”, and “CPT” permit holders may also park in the “WC4” West Campus Carmack 4 lot overnight.

*Please note: An exception to this rule occurs on Football Saturdays.  There are lots on campus that are reserved strictly for football parking and all vehicles must be removed from these lots by 5:00AM.  Any vehicle not removed by that time will be towed at the owners expense.  For more information on this exception, please visit the Football parking page or e-mail us at tpinfo@osu.edu.