Staff travel and parking on campus at the start of term: what you need to know
The autumn term is one of the busiest times of year on campus - bringing significant pressure on local roads and on campus car parking facilities.
We appreciate this can be disruptive for some staff so here is a summary of key points to help you plan and understand what to expect.
In summary:
- You are likely to experience longer journeys to get to and from campus.
- You may need to park at locations further away than your usual car parks.
- There are improved alternative forms of travel to try such as cycling, bus and train.
- Options like car share and multi-mode permits can give you more flexible access to parking.
- All car parks are listed at warwick.ac.uk/carparks/where so you can work out in advance what’s available.
- There is signage and advice available to help you see where you can park on arrival.
- There are a number of new locations available to permit-holders this year.
- If you cannot find a parking space, you can call 024 765 22206/22209 for information.
Please read on for more detail about parking locations for permit and non-permit holders, alternative options and upcoming developments.
In more detail
On arrival live parking information
You will be able to use the bright yellow signs on campus to see which car parks are full and which have availability.
Parking marshals based at Gibbet Hill, at multi-story car parks on central campus and at car park entrances at Westwood can also help by advising you where spaces are available if your usual car park is full.
If you cannot find a parking space, you can call the parking office on 024 765 22206/22209 for information.
Permit holders updates
Free shuttlebuses
There are free shuttlebus services to help you travel from car parks to locations elsewhere on campus - you can see these listed at warwick.ac.uk/shuttlebus. If you park further away from your building than you used to, these services may be of particular use to you.
New permit holder spaces on the Science Park
From 1 October, there is additional temporary parking next to Cafcass on the Science Park, available to University parking permit holders and accessible via Milburn Hill Road on the A45 side of campus.
New permit holder spaces at the Beehive at Westwood Business Park
The recent relocation of some professional service departments to the Beehive frees up some permit holder parking spaces on campus. There is also some additional parking available here which may be useful for people travelling from the Solihull/Birmingham direction.
Lakeside Village parking permits
These permits were allocated to some staff when Kirby Corner Car Park development work began, so that they could reduce pressure on other car parks. Please use space here if you have a permit, and display the Lakeside permit alongside your existing University permit.
Car Park 15
Car Park 15 is now allocated for permit-holder use – this is behind the International Manufacturing Centre, Mathematics and Statistics and Computer Science on central campus.
Car-Share scheme
See warwick.ac.uk/carshare to find out if you could benefit from shared travel arrangements and allocated spaces.
Multi-mode parking
If you don't need to park every day, or want to try alternatives to driving on some days, you could switch your existing permit to a Multi-Mode permit. This offers you a way to pay only for the days that you require without paying the full pay and display parking price or purchasing a full-time permit.
Salaried staff only are eligible to buy multi-mode permits.
Sign up for Multi-Mode parking
Other parking options
Pay and display parking
If you don't have a permit, there is pay and display parking available in several car parks around campus. There is also parking available at Westwood North for flexi-pay scratch-card users.
Find out more about pay and display parking
Live parking information
The bright yellow signs that display information on the availability of parking spaces will continue to be used on central campus and to help you identify when you arrive on campus which car parks are full and which still have spaces available to use.
Larger car parks also have parking marshals to help and advise you on other parking options if your usual car park is full.
Alternatives to driving
Buses
Both Stagecoach and National Express are improving their services to and from campus this autumn so bus travel may be a good option for you.
We have National Express cards to give away to staff, pre-loaded with two free return journeys. These can be used on the National Express 11, 11U and 12X services, covering campus, Coventry, Kenilworth and Leamington.
National Express have also extended their 12X service later into the evenings, with the last bus leaving the Interchange at 23:49 heading to Prior Deram Walk Monday to Saturday. See the National Express website for timetables.
No Stagecoach buses will stop on University Road, but Stagecoach will now serve Cannon Park and Kirby Corner Road between Westwood Campus and University House. See the Stagecoach website for timetables.
See details of all bus services that stop on campus
Trains
If you are able to travel by train, National Express service 12X operates directly between campus and Coventry Railway Station, and free University shuttlebus services operate between campus and Canley Railway Station.
Cycling
Are you close enough to cycle? There are over 3,500 cycle spaces across campus, plus shower facilities, and a network of routes linking campus to the local area that you could try.
Reserving visitor parking spaces on campus
If you are expecting external visitors, you can submit a request online to reserve parking for them. Spaces reserved for visitors are held Monday – Friday, up until 2pm to assist during the peak times of day.
Further developments
We will continue to monitor the flow of traffic to and from campus and monitor pressure on car parks.
There will also be further updates later in the autumn term on ongoing work to improve parking and transport options. Work includes the enhancement of existing parking schemes, progress on increasing car parking capacity through developments at Kirby Corner Road, temporary and longer-term developments at Gibbet Hill and developments at Cryfield, and improved live parking information.
