With gas prices rising and the parking permit renewal deadline just around the corner, now may be an ideal time to rethink your daily commute.

Below, the Parking Office offers an array of tips, tricks and reminders that can improve your Medical Center parking experience:

• Enjoy a smoother time getting in and out of AVI access gates. While having the AVI tag positioned beneath the rear-view mirror works well for most employees, Parking officers are now revising their original recommendations to also include a driver’s side mounting option. For some staff, making this one simple change could help the gate system read their cards more quickly (if you do want to switch your AVI tag's position, more Velcro adhesive is available at the Parking Office). Learn more by downloading the PDF, here.

• See how much cash you could keep in pocket by carpooling. The new Rideshare service calculator lets you price the projected savings (gas, wear and tear, and even parking fees, depending on your carpooling arrangement) that you’d accumulate if you drove to work with another employee. It can also estimate just how much pollutant you’d spare the environment. To learn more about the perks of carpooling, click here.

• Brush up on your garage parking privileges. To cut down on the number of employees who illegally park in the garage – crowding space we reserve for our patients and visitors – the Parking Office will be more strictly enforcing its garage parking policies. Be sure you’re well informed about when you can and can’t park in URMC visitor lots, here.

• Consider the benefits of a direct shuttle. Imagine riding to work while sipping coffee, scanning the morning headlines, and saving money all at the same time. Or, more simply, forgoing your umbrella and enjoying convenient to-the-door service on a drizzly morning. That’s the “daily grind” for RTS Greece Direct Shuttle riders, which now tally around 40 people each way, and a similar venture is being explored for Irondequoit employees, too. At only $1 each way, this new non-stop service could amount to considerable savings in terms of fuel and parking fees over the course of a year. Riders who surrendered their parking permits also would become eligible for “Occasional Parker” status, which affords the added flexibility of 24 free passes to park on campus on the days they need a personal vehicle. To learn more about the new shuttle, click here.

• Don’t let your permit lapse – renew now! As part of the University’s continuing efforts to “go green,” the Parking Office is asking faculty, staff and students to renew their permits online by Tuesday, June 30. Don’t forget that Medical Center Parkers who renew early – by Sunday, May 31 – will be entered automatically into a parking sweepstakes, becoming eligible for prizes ranging from one year of garage parking privileges, to a reserved space in their current lot. All parking permits (and the corresponding AVI tags) will expire if not renewed by Tuesday, June 30; as a result, parkers who fail to renew will lose access to their gated lots.

For more information, call the Medical Center Parking Office 275-4524.