Once you get settled here, you can decide what mode of transportation to school works best for you. The Parking and Transportation Office has information about ride sharing, student discounts for public transportation, and the campus shuttle system. At night the UC Police Department sponsors a walk service to escort students within a certain radius of campus. Call 510-642-WALK, and an escort will meet you and walk you to your home or car. Student fees cover the cost of Class Pass, which allows you to ride AC Transit (the local bus system) for free using a student pass. We urge you to take advantage of the Class Pass and use public transportation as much as possible since parking on campus is limited. Further information about the Class Pass can be obtained from the Parking and Transportation Office.
For those who rely primarily on public transportation, Transit.511.org, provides comprehensive information about mass transit in the Bay Area, including a public transit trip planning, routes, schedules, fare information for all transit services including train, bus and ferry.
If you decide to drive to the law school, you will have to contend with parking, not always an easy task. Some students take their chances with metered street parking spaces, but with one-hour meters lining most of the streets adjacent to the law school, this option is not viable for days when you plan to be here for an extended time. The other option is to use one of the six student parking lots around the campus perimeter operated by the university’s Parking and Transportation Office. The closest lot is the Underhill parking lot (on Channing above Bowditch and below College Avenue). The other student lots are the Tang Center parking area, the Channing and Ellsworth lot, the Foothill lot, and the lot at Hearst and Scenic. To be eligible for a permit for these lots, students must live two miles or more from campus.
There are two options for parking permits. You can pay in advance for daily parking (rates), which costs about $327 for the full semester. The other option is a daily permit (scratch-off hangtag), which cost $10 and may be purchased from the Parking and Transportation office. The daily pay option is designed for students who will need parking on the average of two or fewer times per week (not likely if you are attending all your classes). Note that the number of parking spaces for students is limited. You may have to experiment with different parking lots and different times of arrival to settle on a parking plan that suits you.
To purchase a permit, fill out an application form, show your Cal Photo ID card or driver’s license and provide payment in full. Also bring a proof of your address (to show you live more than two miles from campus).
Please visit UC Berkeley’s Parking and Transportation website for detailed information about transportation option to get you to, from and around campus: http://pt.berkeley.edu/around