Policies

General Policies

Motor vehicles parked on Howard University property at any time must be registered and display a valid hangtag or parking permit for the appropriate parking lot. Secondary vehicles and rentals occasionally used, in place of registered vehicles are required to display a valid hangtag. 

OPTS reserves the right to enforce 24/7.

VISITOR PARKING. Visitor parking permits can be purchased at the Howard Center parking lot, located at 2235 8th St N.W. The Howard Center parking lot operates as a Pay-As-You-Go parking facility, Monday thru Friday, 7:00am –5:00pm (excluding holidays).  Both daily and monthly permits are available for purchase. Daily permits are sold at a flat rate of $10 per day (Debit Card payments). Monthly permits are $180 a month.

To purchase a permit in advance for the Howard Center Lot, visit https://tagbgroup.com/

ALL PARKING IS BY PERMIT ONLY. Vehicles parked without a valid permit are subject to ticketing, towing and or immobilization (at owner’s expense). A permit holder who finds no space available in an assigned area should notify the Office of Parking & Transportation Services (OPTS) which will arrange to temporarily park the vehicle in another lot. Parking patrons should request assistance from OPTS for approval to park in an unassigned parking area for loading and unloading. This arrangement is void in reserved spaces, fire lanes and disability spaces. Any vehicle found parked after the 15 minutes period will be ticketed. No exception.

Personnel from Parking Enforcement, Campus Police, and Hospital Security enforce University parking regulations. Hangtags are issued by OPTS. Parking privileges at Howard University can only be authorized and granted by OPTS for respective parking spaces under their management. Parking permits, access cards, and other parking paraphernalia issued to users of the University parking system remain the property of Howard University. The University reserves the right to:

• Refuse issuance of a parking permit
• Revoke or recall a permit
• Change parking assignments as deemed necessary
• Restrict the use of any parking space or lot at any time
• Change its parking regulations at any time
• Close, reserve or restrict parking areas as deemed necessary

 

Non-appealable Tow/Barnacle

• ADA Spaces
• Fire Lanes
• Reserved Spaces
• Habitual Violators
• No Parking Anytime
• Resident Complaints
• Fraudulent Permit
• Inoperable Vehicles
• Abandoned Vehicles
• No Parking Spaces/Zones
• Loading Docks
• Alleyways
• Sidewalks
• Non-Approved Spaces

CONTRACTOR PERMITS: Contractors who are performing work on the campus may obtain parking arrangements by contacting OPTS. Contractors are encouraged to car pool to the greatest extent possible.

DISABILITY PARKING PERMIT: Faculty and staff requiring special disability parking accommodations must be validated by Human Resources (EEO) and have a parking assignment through a departmental allocation and a valid university hang tag or permit. Parking in a disability-designated space requires the vehicle to be licensed with either a license plate or a valid state hang tag depicting the international mobility limitation. Designated disability parking spaces will be allotted to the departments by the Office of Parking and Shuttle Operations after individuals have been identified by department Parking Coordinators. Note that these spaces are limited. Reassignments may occur at the discretion of the responsible vice president, dean, director or designee in order to accommodate disability patrons.

To the extent possible, OPTS will work with Department Heads to facilitate requests for temporary disability accommodations. Students who need disability access must register through the Office of the Dean of Special Student Services. Visitors needing a disability accessible parking space will be directed by OPTS to a visitor space so designated. All persons who park on University parking lots, regardless of mobility limitations must have a valid permit and pay the appropriate parking fee. There is no free parking on campus parking lots.

Summer Parking Information

Parking at the University is extremely limited, however there is less demand for parking during the summer sessions. Parking permits for summer sessions can be obtained from OPTS for a monthly fee. Students must be validated for summer school in order to qualify for summer parking. Valid staff ID is required to obtain a permit. Please contact OPTS at 202.806.2000 for current summer rates.

Staff/Faculty Parking

Parking at the University is very limited. Employees who are unable to obtain a parking assignment must find alternatives to driving to campus.

Two forms of payment are accepted for faculty/staff permits:

PAYROLL DEDUCTION: This type of payment is available only to permanent full-time staff or full and part-time faculty. Students who are temporary employees cannot use the payroll deduction option for payment of permits. It is the employees' responsibility to verify that the proper deductions for parking are being made from their paycheck, and to report any errors directly to OPTS. The parking hangtag permit remains the property of Howard University. Return the hangtag to OPTS upon separation from the University. Failure to do so does not excuse an employee from payment of the correct fees and back parking charges.

ADVANCE PAYMENT: Individuals not eligible for payroll deductions must pay in advance for a parking permit. Credit/Debit cards, cash, check*, or money order is accepted. Parking permits are sold for an annual period from September through August.  Prorated permits are sold for less than 12 months.

*Checks must be imprinted with the name, address, and phone number of issuing parties. Valid University ID must be presented.

Permit holders with outstanding citations are subject to Towing or immobilization via Barnacle.

Student Parking

Student parking registration at the University is managed through a Parking Registration system. Parking registration is held following the spring semester each year. The dates of the registration deadlines are announced via our website and University communications. Students must present a valid Howard University student I.D. to register. Students who have parking assignments via Parking Registration must pick up permits during the fall registration period. Unclaimed parking assignments will be sold via an automated random selection process.

Parking is limited and students are encouraged to rideshare or use alternatives transportation to campus. Howard Plaza Towers and Bethune Annex residents should apply through the residence manager’s office if they wish to park in the underground parking facilities. To effectively manage this limited resource, freshmen (First Time) students are not eligible for parking privileges on University lots. Freshmen are discouraged from bringing a car to campus as street parking is limited and aggressively enforced by District of Columbia authorities.

Student Account Charges:

• Citations (excess of 30 days)
• Citations/Barnacle Fees
• Permit Fee’s

Special Events

Request for special event parking can be submitted by email to Parking@howard.edu no later than seven days in advance of event date. All special events parking must be coordinated through OPTS to insure parking lot availability, parking authorization and easy access to event sites.