Alternative Transportation

Alternative Transportation

There are many advantages to using optional forms of transportation while traveling to and from VCU. Below are some ways you may be able to reduce gas, parking or toll costs and make your commute less stressful!

Ridesharing

Now it's fun and easy to share the seats in your car or catch a ride with Zimride. Here, you can find VCU friends, classmates and colleagues going the same way you are. Zimride integrates with Facebook to create a social, sustainable and convenient form of transportation.

Add your ride today at http://zimride.vcu.edu - VCU's Social Network for Ridesharing

Need to get off-campus?

For those of you that need to get around but don't have a car with you on campus, Zipcar may be the service for you. Whether you need the car for a few hours or for a whole day, you can use Zipcars. They're parked right on campus, and you don't have to worry about car payments, maintenance, gas or insurance.

Learn more and join at www.zipcar.com/vcu

VCU Campus Bus Route Information

Great News!
VCU buses are rolling out for you. For more information about the connector between VCU campuses and other shuttles, please visit the Transit Schedule and Map page. Buses are free anyone with a VCU Card.     *Please note that the Student Transit Pass is not necessary for use of these bus routes.

Richmond GRTC Bus

Richmond city buses transverse everything you will need from housing to fashion malls to work opportunities. Bus passes are available to all full-time VCU students at Parking & Transportation. Off Campus Assistants will be glad to help you figure out how GRTC may improve your commute. email offcampus@vcu.edu or phone 804-828-7205

Find more information about Richmond city buses at the GRTC web site.

Information is also available at the VCU Parking & Transportation Services web site.

Cycling to Campus?

• Register with the VCU Police [pdf]
• RABA: Richmond Area Bicycling Association
• Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
• Cycling for the Bay
• Bicycling and Walking Program with the Virginia Department of Transportation
• Bike Walk Virginia

Walking to Campus?

• Mining Company's Walking Site
• PEDNET
• Mean Streets: Pedestrian Safety
• Partnership for a Walkable America

Driving to Campus?

The following is a list of options to consider while parking in the VCU Monroe Park Campus area. A VCU Parking pass is the stress free recommended way to handle a car. City streets are managed by the Richmond City Police and are carefully monitored. By the time a student has received 4 parking tickets, they may as well have bought a parking pass.

See the VCU Parking & Transportation website for parking pass availability locations and prices.

Street and private parkers around VCU should consider some of the following keys to success:

• Arrive before 7 a.m. to get unrestricted street parking on some campus streets.
• Park away from campus. There are multiple parking options just 5 – 10 blocks away and walking is great exercise. Put a bike rack on the car and bringing a bike makes parking farther away even easier.
• Parking regulations on city streets and a color coded street grid map for referencing restricted and unrestricted parking are available on the City of Richmond website.

Honor Lots and Monthly Options

There are very few private parking lots on the West side of Monroe Park Campus. Small parking lots on Main St., between Harrison and Brunswick and the one on Grace Street between Shafer and Harrison require cash inserted into a numbered box that coincides with parking space. This is called Honor Parking.

More honor lots and monthly parking options are available between the two campuses, to the west of Monroe Park and throughout downtown. The Campus Connector has stops near several downtown parking options and is free to students. Many MCV campus students park below that campus to the east where there are several day lots that are generally a few dollars cheaper than the downtown lots. Those students can catch VCU parking lot shuttles up the hill and transfer to the Campus Connector to go on to Monroe Park or get a great boost and climb the hill for morning exercise.

Download the current Ride Guide from VCU Parking & Transportation.

The following commercial providers supply a lot of downtown's parking needs. Virginia Commonwealth University does not endorse these providers or their products.

• City Parking (Honor and Monthly) - (804) 254-0602
• Jim's Parking (Honor and Monthly) - (804) 740-1260
• Main Park (Honor Lot) - (804) 648-7275
• Standard Parking (Honor and Monthly) - (804) 649-7275
• VA Park (Honor and Monthly) - (804) 649-1258