What is the Carpool Program?

For the carpool discount permit, UC Santa Barbara Parking and Transportation Services defines a carpool as two or more UCSB employees, who are employed by the university at least 45% time as either Faculty or Staff or Graduate Students who primarily commute between their residences and UCSB main campus at together in the same vehicle at the same time at least 3-days per week and share one long-term daytime main campus parking ePermit. Please be aware that those who do not qualify or misrepresent the carpool to get the carpool discount will pay the full-price of the parking permit retroactively (+$225/year and any collection fees).

Carpools are an ideal cost-saving arrangement, particularly for those individuals who commute long distances to and from work each day, have limited access to public transit, or have few transportation options available to them.

• Carpool discount permits are available to carpools that include at least TWO people employed by UCSB at least 45% of time. A qualified carpool discount group may include any combination of faculty and staff, post-docs and graduate students. Employment at UCSB must extend beyond May of the fiscal year beginning in July to qualify for pre-tax payroll deduction... All others may pay with cash, check or charge.
• All carpool members must maintain eligibility in order to qualify and maintain the reduced rate.
• All carpool members must be enrolled in TAP and just ONE member of the carpool applies for the Carpool discount parking permit.
• All vehicles used with the Carpool parking permit must be associated with the permit in the Transportation & Parking Services permit sales system.
• The carpool discount ePermit is virtual, paperless and stickerless and is tied to the license plate numbers listed under the permit holder's account.
• Besides the Carpool discount permit, the carpool partner without a permit in their name may be entitled to 6-days of of complimentary parking per quarter for times when both the "carpool-permit holder" and the "carpool not-permit holder" need to drive onto campus at the same time.
• Follow the instructions on our Carpool Application Directions to enroll for the Carpool Discount Permit.

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• An annual Carpool discount permit costs $225/year, which is half the price of a $450/year regular permit.
• Permits purchased after the start of the permit period are prorated and the appropriate fee charged for the remainder of the period. July 1 is the starting date for an annual permit. For example, if you purchase a Carpool permit in November, the cost to you is $150. In January, you pay $112.50, and in March $75.
• Permits that are not being used must be cancelled through the Parking Services Sales office to to stop incurring fees or to qualify for a refund. See here for more information about our permit return policy.

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A carpool is typically organized as a Designated Driver Carpool or as an Alternating Carpool.

• In a Designated Driver Carpool, the driver provides the vehicle, and passengers pay a daily, weekly or monthly fare based on expenses such as fuel, maintenance, and parking.
• In an Alternating Carpool, the driving alternates among carpool participants by the day, week or month. Your expenses are incurred only when you do the driving.

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Carpool matching services can be of assistance to those who want to form or expand a carpool. Some carpool matching services support daily commuters between home and UCSB (SmartRide and Waze Carpool ) and others support regional transportation such as Bay Area or Southern California Ride Matching (Craigslist and Facebook Groups)  

• SmartRide, a carpool matching program from Traffic Solutions available to students and employees of UCSB along with the general public. Traffic Solutions is a division of the Santa Barbara County Association of Government (SBCAG)*
• Craigslist Ride board regulars provide personal information with their travel requests.*

Some of Facebook's Regional Rideshare Groups that serve those from UCSB

• sRide UCSB's Rideshare Facebook group for UCSB or smartphone App*
• Facebook's UCSB - Bay Area Rideshare Group*
• Facebook's UCSB - Southern California (SoCal) Rideshare Group*
• Facebook's UCSB Swifte Rideshare Group*

*Please be advised that UC Santa Barbara has no affiliation with any carpool matching services.  Participants are solely responsible for determining whether or when it’s appropriate to meet with or share personal information with a potential carpool partner.

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If you are not yet a member, join TAP today. It’s your first step to enrolling in the Carpool Program.

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