Parking Policies & Data

Parking permit regulations are enforced from Monday to Friday 24 hours a day. Other parking violations — such as parking in fire lanes, travel lanes, accessible spaces, near fire hydrants, along curbs, or on grass — are enforced at all times, every day of the year.

Parking & Mass Transit Services’ uses a license plate recognition (LPR) system to verify vehicle parking registration and proper lot designations. Please visit the License Plate Recognition page for detailed information about the new system, including proper license plate display. 

To ensure visitor parking remains available, UAlbany students, employees, and affiliates are not authorized to park in visitor lots even with fee validation. Additionally, for all vehicles, overnight parking is not permitted in visitor lots or any areas where signs indicate restrictions. This includes the Broadview Arena, as well as the parking lots for the University Administration Building and Management Services Center. 

While not every restricted area may be specifically marked, it is the responsibility of each vehicle operator to follow parking regulations. Even in the absence of signage, enforcement remains in place to help maintain accessibility and safety across campus.

Vehicles must be parked so that a license plate is viewable from the driving lane. For vehicles registered in jurisdictions that do not issue front plates this typically means the vehicle will need to be parked “nose-in.”

License plates must also be readable. Devices that cover or obstruct a license plate are illegal in New York State, and the presence of such devices may result in a citation.

Parking lots on campus are designated based on user groups, including visitor, faculty and staff, commuter students, and resident students. Each group is assigned specific lots to ensure organized and efficient parking access. 

Faculty, staff, and students are not eligible to park in visitor lots even with fee validation. Additionally, parking is never authorized in Reserved, Special Permit, University Vehicle, or Accessible spaces unless proper credentials are registered and/or displayed. 

Students must be parked in your designated lot, resident or commuter, weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and may park in any other faculty, staff, or student parking lot outside of those hours. 

Faculty and Staff may park in any Faculty, Staff, or Student parking lot besides Freedom Lots 12 and 14 and Empire Commons Lot 8. 

Vendors may park in any Faculty, Staff, or Student parking lot besides Freedom Lots 12 and 14 and Empire Commons Lot 8. 

Contractors may park in any resident or commuter, weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and may park in any other faculty, staff, or student parking lot outside of those hours besides Freedom Lots 12, 13, and 14 and Empire Commons Lot 8.

For detailed listing for all parking lots please view the Campus Maps. 

If a student vehicle accumulates seven citations between September 1 and August 30, parking privileges may be revoked for the remainder of the registration year.  Students are also accountable for citations issued to immediate family members or individuals sharing their permanent address. 

Immobilization and Vehicle Removal Policy

To prevent the cost and inconvenience of towing due to excessive parking violations, the University may immobilize vehicles under certain conditions.

If a vehicle owner or registrant owes $200 or more in parking fines, illegally parks in an accessible space, or has five outstanding parking citations an immobilization device may be attached to the vehicle.

The owner or registrant has 72 hours to contact Parking & Mass Transit Services, pay outstanding fines, and pay a $100 fee for device removal.

If the issue is not resolved within 72 hours, the University reserves the right to tow the vehicle at the owner's expense.

Tampering with or removing the immobilization device without payment can lead to additional fines and fees. Students who do so may be referred to Community Standards. Offenders assume liability for any vehicle damage and may face criminal and financial penalties.

Any vehicle on University property that is abandoned, unsafe, inoperable or under repair will be ticketed as such and must be removed immediately from campus.

Unsafe vehicles are those that present a clear and present danger or are threat to life, safety or the environment. For example, a vehicle that is leaking gas, oil or anti-freeze. These vehicles can also be towed off campus at any time at the expense of the owner or registrant.

Vehicles without a valid state or province vehicle registration are considered abandoned. These vehicles will be ticketed as “abandoned” and towed from campus at the expense of the owner or registrant.

Please note that during a school recess (for example, Thanksgiving Break, Winter intersession, or Spring Break), all student vehicles left on campus with a valid resident or commuter student permit should be parked in the Colonial Quad Northwest Resident parking lot. The University may remove or relocate vehicles at the owner's expense, if necessary, due to parking lot maintenance, emergencies, or snow removal.

The University may declare a snow emergency if accumulation impedes emergency vehicles’ access and/or access for individuals who need to park in authorized areas, or when snow removal operations are necessary for the general health and safety of our campus community.

Snow emergencies and where to park are announced on the UAlbany website's homepage, on the Parking & Mass Transit Alerts page and via UAlbany Alerts.

Visit the Office of Facilities Management website for University’s Snow and Ice Response Guide and Snow Emergency Parking Plan.

Residential first-year students (freshmen who reside on campus) are not allowed to park a vehicle at the University. Credits earned during pre-college courses do not have an effect on this policy. 

Exemptions

• Students with medical accommodations that have been approved by Student Health Services or Counseling and Psychological Services may be granted an exemption for expected duration of need.
• First-year students serving in the National Guard and Reserves, may be eligible for parking. Students must be registered with the Office of Veteran and Military Student Services to be eligible.
• First-year students who don't live in on-campus housing, or who are 21 or older, can park on campus with a valid parking permit.

Repercussions

• Anyone who attempts to register a vehicle for a resident first-year student will be referred to the Office of Community Standards.
• Any vehicle registered to a resident first-year student will be ticketed and/or towed at the owner's expense.