Vanpool | Transportation Services

five employees riding in a vanpool smiling

Vanpools are offered by regional transit agencies and provide groups of five or more individuals a vehicle to share their commute.

Vanpool fares are set by the managing transit agency, based on the distance the van travels daily and the number of people in the vanpool. Each vanpool must assign one member to be the bookkeeper responsible for collecting fares. Vanpool fares cover the costs of the van, insurance, maintenance, roadside assistance and fuel.

Example of ORCA card serial number on back of Husky Card, indicated with red outline

The University of Washington will provide a free parking permit for each van in one of the Seattle campus lots as well as a monthly subsidy to vanpoolers who have a U-PASS. This subsidy will provide full fare coverage each month. To receive the subsidy, provide the appropriate transit agency and your bookkeeper with your ORCA card serial number, a unique eight-digit number found on the left above the magnetic stripe on the back of your Husky Card.

Getting started

Find a vanpool:

Set up an account and search for possible ridematches at www.rideshareonline.com or by calling 888-814-1300.
Contact a participating transit agency’s vanpool program coordinator (see links below).

Join an existing vanpool:

Complete the transit agency vanpool application process (see links below).
Make sure you have an active U-PASS. (This includes the fully subsidized employee U-PASS as well as the employee-paid U-PASS.)
Provide the appropriate transit agency and your bookkeeper with your ORCA card serial number, found on the back of your Husky Card.
Make sure you know the rules and regulations for parking at your destination.

Start a new vanpool:

Identify who will be the primary driver, the backup driver and the bookkeeper.
Complete the transit agency vanpool application process (see links below).
Make sure that you have an active U-PASS. (This includes the fully subsidized employee U-PASS as well as the employee-paid U-PASS.)
Provide the appropriate transit agency and your bookkeeper with your ORCA card serial number, found on the back of your Husky Card.
Make sure you know the rules and regulations for parking at your destination.

Participating transit agencies

Commuters are eligible to ride a vanpool with any agency that operates in the county in which their commute starts or ends.

King County: King County Metro
Snohomish County: Community Transit
Pierce County: Pierce Transit
Island County: Island Transit
Kitsap County: Kitsap Transit
Thurston County: Intercity Transit

Parking

Vanpools must register with the Transportation Services office to receive a free parking permit for the University of Washington in Seattle. Each member of the vanpool will receive their own individual permit according to their role in the vanpool (primary driver, backup driver, bookkeeper or rider).

To request a Vanpool Permit please email ucommute@uw.edu with the following information:

Participant information: Name, employee/student ID number, and vanpool role for each member of the vanpool;
Vanpool information: The transit agency that manages your vanpool, vanpool group number;
Vehicle information: Vehicle make and model, license plate number, and van number (printed on the side of your vehicle); and
Preferred parking lot on campus

These permits must be initially obtained from the Transportation Services office but then may be renewed online at the customer portal. If any permit in the vanpool is not renewed before the expiration date, all the vanpool permits for the group will be deactivated. Vanpool groups may also use the customer portal to manage their linked vehicles.

REQUEST A VANPOOL PERMIT

Vanpools will be assigned to one parking lot on campus. All lots will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to demand, some smaller lots will only be available to a limited number of vans. If, after registering, you need to change your lot assignment, email ucommute@uw.edu and explain the situation.

Parking in a different lot

If you need to park in a different lot than your assigned one only occasionally (less than once per week), reserve an out-of-area permit online or stop at any campus gatehouse and request an out-of-area permit for the day. You must have a valid vanpool permit when reserving online. If you stop at a gatehouse, you will need to share your vanpool permit information.

If you need to park in a different lot for a longer period of time, but only temporarily (five or more days, consecutively), email ucommute@uw.edu and request a temporary permit. Please specify the dates you will need the temporary permit.

Parking on a different campus

If you do not commute to the University of Washington in Seattle campus, contact the transportation office at your campus for parking information.

Vanshares

A vanshare is a group of five or more commuters sharing the ride to or from a public transit link or hub. Vanshare is a great option for commuters who want to take transit but find there’s a gap between their homes and a transit stop or the end of the transit route and their final destination. Vanshares “bridge the gap” (maximum 20 miles round trip daily) between a bus, ferry or train and the destination.

Vanshares enjoy benefits similar to vanpools, including free parking on campus for the van. The UW also covers the monthly vanshare fare through the UW Vanpool subsidy.