By SUSAN JONES
Parking will be even more limited in Pitt-owned lots as the semester gets underway next week, but the University is temporarily offering shuttle service to an off-site lot.
The mobility office announced on Aug. 21 that ongoing renovations at the OC Lot on Allequippa Street will mean only leaseholders will be able to park there for the first two to three weeks of classes. The garage at the Public Health Building, which is lease-only, also is closed because of renovations.
The mobility office is working with the contractors to safely expedite the projects and return the garage and lot to their normal occupancy as soon as possible, but it will likely be mid-September before they reopen.
To offset the shortage, the University will run a shuttle service from the Pittsburgh Technology Center garage located at 401 Technology Drive, along the Monongahela River. Parking is $10 per day at this garage.
The shuttle service — which will stay in place only until the renovation work is complete — will drop off and pick up at Schenley Plaza. It will operate from 6 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. The University’s 40A shuttle also services this garage with stops at lower and upper campus. The 40A shuttle starts at the garage at 7:30 a.m., and its last stop there is at 7:15 p.m. More information on the 40A can be found here.
Daily parking also is available at Soldiers and Sailors garage but will be limited.
Find other parking options on the visitor and daily parking guide. Daily parking is available at an hourly rate at the Sennott Square garage and for $5 a day at the Panther Hollow lot.
Drivers also can reserve daily spaces through the Parkmobile app at the Ruskin Hall lot on Fifth Avenue, the Posvar Garage, the Veterans Hospital lot and in Panther Hollow. These spaces tend to fill up quickly because they are not currently limited to Pitt employees.
The mobility office has talked about making reservations for these lots only available through a Pitt sign on, and after the renovation work is complete, the team will look at this again.
One way Pitt has tried to maximize use of permit parking spaces is by offering set-day and shared permits for people who are working hybrid schedules and are only in Oakland a few days a week. These are still available but have not been highly utilized, the mobility office said, and they are continuing to work to increase use of flexible parking options.
There also are some Pitt employees who have their parking pass on hold from the pandemic. The office has tried communicating with these people to come off hold or to relinquish their pass. They are continuing to review this process and may change hold status in the future.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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