Parking permits required at Stanford's main campus and Stanford Redwood City

Commuters and residents are required to have a valid parking permit purchased through the online ordering system to avoid potential citations. Read our article to learn more.

For COVID-related transportation updates, please visit our Stanford Transportation COVID-19: Featured Topics page. If you are interested in learning more about your commute options as you return to campus, please refer to our Returning to Your Stanford commute page.

Reduce Peak Hour Trips at Stanford

There are an increasing number of events at Stanford with hundreds or even thousands of event attendees on any given day. Try to avoid scheduling event arrivals between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and departures between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Event traffic makes it challenging for Stanford to meet its obligations to reduce peak-hour vehicle trips under its General Use Permit (PDF) with the County of Santa Clara.

As an event planner, you can help reduce peak-hour event trips in a number of ways:

  • Schedule events outside of peak arrival times (8 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and peak departure times (5 p.m. to 6 p.m.) on weekdays.
  • If you can’t avoid peak-trip arrivals and departures, consider offering a reception or activity that could encourage some attendees to arrive or depart outside of the peak-commute times.
  • Suggest alternative transportation options for your event attendees.
  • Consider reserving a shuttle through Stanford Charter Services to transport your attendees to and from your campus event.
  • Have event attendees pay their own parking fee rather than offer free parking at Stanford. Refer to the Galvez Lot Parking Guidelines (PDF) for details regarding payment options.

In addition to helping Stanford comply with the GUP, you also will be improving the experience for your event attendees by reducing traffic they will encounter when attending your event. Learn more in the “Stanford Events and Peak-Hour Trips” section of our website.