Carpools/vanpools

Sharing your commute with others saves money on fuel costs, insurance, vehicle maintenance and more. We offer carpool and vanpool options for VCU community members looking to ride to and from work or class together. 

Students interested in carpooling may form their own group through RideFinders and qualify to receive reward incentives as well as emergency rides home. Learn more at http://ridefinders.com/.

For additional questions related to carpools and vanpools, email commute@vcu.edu.

Program details- students

VCU students can ride together or coordinate trips to campus using separate vehicles under one permit.

1. Up to three vehicles can be registered under one student carpool permit, but only one vehicle may be parked on campus at a time (excluding paid parking facilities) to avoid citations. If needed, participants can use hourly parking facilities when driving separately.
2. To participate, the primary carpool participant must complete an online application listing all participants and vehicles. Each participant will receive an automated email to confirm their involvement. Once all participants have approved the application, it is sent to VCU Parking and Transportation for review. Upon final approval, the primary carpool participant will receive a link to purchase the permit online within 24 hours.
3. Students who have purchased a permit but wish to join the carpool program can contact parking@vcu.edu to swap permits or request a refund.

Student carpool program rules:

• Student carpool permits can be purchased at I Deck, Jefferson St. Deck, or Henry St. Deck-East/West. Facility exceptions will not be approved.
• The primary carpool participant must complete the initial application and pay the permit fee. VCU Parking and Transportation will not split permit costs among the group.
• Three students can share a carpool permit, with a maximum of three vehicles registered.
• Vehicles found parked in a non-hourly parking facility while another registered vehicle is already parked in the designated facility will incur a $300 citation and possible revocation of parking privileges for at least one year. If multiple registered users need to come to campus simultaneously, they must use hourly parking facilities.
• Standard reciprocal parking privileges apply to all registered carpool permit holders.

Program details- employees

VCU and VCU Health System employees can participate in VCU Parking and Transportation’s carpool and vanpool programs. 

1. Forming your carpool/vanpool

If you are interested in carpools/vanpools but are unsure how to connect with other interested VCU or VCU Health System employees who live in your area, you can register with RideFinders. RideFinders also provides registered users a limited number of emergency rides and rewards for logging alternatives to driving alone.

Vanpools

Vanpools can be established with VCU Parking and Transportation through Enterprise. Users can connect with co-workers or friends who live nearby, and Enterprise will provide a recent-model SUV, crossover or van. Everyone splits the costs and driving duties, saving you valuable time and money.

2. Securing carpool parking

If you plan to carpool/vanpool, you may need a VCU parking permit to share with another employee. If you are an employee and will need parking through VCU Parking and Transportation, any member within your carpool/vanpool can elect to keep their existing parking location or choose a new location based on current parking availability (i.e., If one member currently parks at A Lot and another member parks in N Deck, if N Deck is the agreed-upon preferred carpool location, the A Lot permit holder would forfeit their permit and both carpool/vanpool members would share the N Deck permit).

With either option, you will still receive a new carpool permit for your chosen location, which will designate you as a carpool subscriber. Only one parking permit is allowed per carpool/vanpool group and should be shared among the group when parking, so members should determine which parking location would be most beneficial for the carpool group.

Employees who register their new carpool can receive 12 free single-use parking passes for the first year at any of VCU’s “pay-as-you-go” parking locations. 

3. Splitting parking permit costs

Full-time VCU and VCU Health System employees may choose to split the parking permit cost among the group privately or opt for payroll deduction through VCU Parking and Transportation. Full-time employees opting for payroll deduction will have the cost of the permit split equally among all participants and deducted from each member’s bi-weekly paycheck.

Part-time employees can split the cost of the parking permit among the group privately; however, one member must pre-pay for the permit in advance through VCU Parking and Transportation on a quarterly basis.

FAQs