About Parking and Transportation Services

Satisfaction with the convenience of parking on campus stems from expectations. If you expect "convenient parking" where everyone parks at the door to his or her destination, Clemson’s parking will disappoint you. 

If, however, you are familiar with urban or campus parking environments, parking at Clemson compares favorably with most cities and universities because destinations are within a 10-minute walk or bus ride and parking fees are reasonable. 

Clemson is master planned to be a walking campus. As such, parking in the inner campus area is limited, and inner campus is populated with academic buildings accented by green space. Future classrooms and academic buildings are planned to replace existing inner campus parking. Additional parking facilities will be constructed on the campus perimeter. Reasons for building parking on the perimeter include: 

• Minimize the time between classes by building classrooms reasonably close together, thus allowing more class periods to be available during the day. 
• Enhance safety by avoiding pedestrian/vehicle conflicts in the interior of campus. 
• Save money when building additional buildings. The infrastructure, including utilities, required to support buildings on campus would be significantly more expensive if buildings were more distant from each other. 
• Of course, one or more parking decks could be constructed on the perimeter of inner campus, (it would take several to house the current inventory of over 13,000 spaces). Costs for construction and maintenance are four or more times greater than for surface parking. There are also additional costs related to lighting, cleaning and security. 

Yes, the sincere input and suggestions of parking patrons are valued and considered when decisions are made. 

Major decisions involving parking are discussed with the Parking Advisory Committee and approved by University Administration. Parking Advisory Committee representatives include undergraduate and graduate students as well as representatives from Faculty Senate and Classified Staff Commission. 

Some decisions that affect parking negatively are made because they enhance other, more important aspects of campus life. For more information, see Parking Advisory Committee. 

All persons who park or let stand a vehicle on campus must immediately obtain and display a valid permit. When all students and employees who park on campus purchase and display a permit, everyone is paying their "fair share" toward the provision of parking services. 

Parking and Transportation Services' operating expenditures are not supplemented with any State money allocated for Education and General expenses of the University. The primary source of funds for Parking and Transportation Services comes from parking permit sales and the collection of parking citation penalties. The revenue is returned to campus users in the provision of the following services: 

• The construction and maintenance of parking facilities. Recurring maintenance costs include landscaping, lawn mowing and tree pruning, lighting repairs, litter removal, sign replacement, paint striping and pavement surface maintenance. 
• To supplement operating and capital equipment funding for Clemson Area Transit. 
• For costs associated with providing parking enforcement, including costs for labor, uniforms, transportation, etc. 
• To pay for the costs associated with the provision for parking citation appeals. 
• To provide labor, rent, utilities, supplies and other costs associated with the administration of parking services. 

Students purchase approximately 75 percent of the annual parking permits sold, which accounts for approximately 75 percent of permit revenue. Seventy-four percent of campus parking spaces are allocated for student use. Permit fees and parking spaces are fairly allocated. Clemson also compares favorably with our peer institutions regarding permit fees and the ratio of parking spaces to student enrollment. 

Parking and Transportation Services is in constant collaboration with Campus Master Planning and parking consultants. The future demand for parking and the feasibility of constructing and operating several parking structures at sites identified in the campus master plan are both being investigated. 

Parking responsibilities are delegated as follows: 

• Parking and Transportation Services is responsible for issuing parking permits, maintaining parking citation records, identifying violators and collecting parking citation penalties. Parking and Transportation Services is also responsible for the maintenance and construction of campus parking facilities. Both present and future locations for parking facilities are established in accordance with the Campus Master Plan. 
• Appeals of parking citations are heard by parking appeal hearing officers. 
• The University Police Department is responsible for enforcing both State and University traffic and parking regulations. 
• Parking citations are issued by parking enforcement officers who are Parking and Transportation Services employees. 

Parking and Transportation Services is a unit of the Division of Finance and Operations. 

• The director of parking services is Dan Hofmann. 
• The associate vice president for auxiliary services is Kathy Hobgood. 
• The vice president for finance and operations is Tony Wagner.