Most faculty, staff and students will see no changes in their parking rates for FY13, and the faculty/staff RideShare program is having its first overhaul in more than 10 years.

The RideShare program has been simplified, provides greater flexibility to program participants, and offers attractive incentives for sharing the commute to campus. To accommodate these modifications, a new permit, the RS permit, can be obtained. Commuters who join the RideShare program can park free in all perimeter and outer lots (A, CF, E, EH, ME, O, R, T, W, WE) with the new RS permit.

Groups with middle campus (C, G, HH, Z) or central campus (D, J, L, N, P, S, U) permits will still pay a discounted fee, but they will no longer be able to share the fee among members by using split payroll deductions. Instead, the primary permit holder pays for the discounted permit and the group makes the cost-sharing arrangements. Alternatively, groups of three or more eligible RideShare participants can park for free in FY13 in these middle and central campus areas.

Parking fees will be implemented for the first time for East Hill Plaza, the East Hill Office Building and the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research building on Pine Tree Road, transitioning to the perimeter rate over three years ($115.62 for FY13). Employees working in these areas will receive information on other commuting options. Eligible employees can pay for the permit via pretax, semimonthly payroll deduction or choose a commuting option -- including RideShare, in which it only takes two people to reduce the fee back to zero.

A portion of the East Hill Plaza lot will be designated for permit parking only. The remainder of the lot will be available for customer parking and will have a four-hour limit. The permit-controlled areas will also have four-hour visitor parking available.

Another upcoming parking change is that rates for department vehicle permits will increase to $107.06.

Most permits, which are set to expire at the end of June, will renew automatically if their fees are not changing. Current permit holders are asked to update their vehicle information by May 25 to ensure that their new permits are issued with correct license plate information. Login at http://myparking.cornell.edu to view your vehicle information and to submit changes. You can also use this site to view or pay any outstanding citations.

Complete information about commuting programs, rates and parking fines can be found at http://www.commuting.cornell.edu.