The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the City of Knoxville are partnering to provide UT students, faculty and staff with convenient new parking and transportation options for the 2024-25 academic year.
Beginning Aug. 12, transportation on all Knoxville Area Transit buses will be provided free of charge to UT students. Staff and faculty will receive free fares when traveling to and from campus, providing a convenient and sustainable commuting solution. Students and employees will use their VolCard to access KAT buses. With 23 fixed routes and three trolley lines, KAT reaches within a half-mile radius of more than 80 percent of Knoxville’s population and transports more than 3 million passengers annually.
UT will also offer a park-and-ride permit for $99 a year to faculty, staff and commuting students. Arranged through a licensing agreement with the City of Knoxville, UT’s park-and-ride permits will use Lot B at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The lot will be serviced by a dedicated bus from UT’s T campus transport system, which will run every 10 minutes to bring permit holders to the campus transfer point at Gate 21 of Neyland Stadium. Parking permits for employees go on sale July 15, and sales of student parking permits will begin in late July.
KAT bus will have frequent service from Cumberland Avenue to the Knoxville Transit Center, which is across the street from the Civic Coliseum, for students and employees who are on campus after 5:30 p.m. Students, faculty and staff with park-and-ride permits will be able to park in unreserved staff or commuter areas on campus after 5 p.m.
“We are excited to partner with the City of Knoxville and provide UT students, faculty and staff with new parking and transportation solutions that are sustainable, economical and convenient,” said UT Executive Director of Parking and Transportation Tanara Teal-Tate. “Providing practical commuter solutions is vital as we strive to transform the parking and transportation culture on campus. This partnership with the City of Knoxville and Knoxville Area Transit will play a pivotal role in enabling us to create capacity on campus to accommodate growth and deliver the Volunteer experience for all students.”
“These partnership agreements are a win-win-win for UT, the City, and KAT,” said Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon. “The City has more than 1,500 unused weekday parking spaces at the Coliseum garages, and almost half of those spaces will now be available to UT students, faculty and staff. Plus, a new generation of commuters will be trying KAT and, we anticipate, enjoying the transit experience. Together, these partnerships will make it easier for people to safely move around our city while also helping us reduce our carbon emissions.”
The partnership is part of a broader effort to transform UT’s parking and transportation network and improve the campus experience for students and employees by reducing competition for parking spaces, providing more predictability for commuters and enhancing transportation options.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Kerry Gardner (865-974-2383, kerry.gardner@tennessee.edu)
Eric Vreeland (865-215-3480, evreeland@knoxvilletn.gov)