<p>Does anyone know if there is any sort of short-term free parking or loading zone on campus that can be used when picking up and dropping off students, or do you always have to pay the $7 to drive past the parking guard shacks?</p>
<p>I'm just trying to figure out the most efficient/cheapest way to pick up our daughter the first time she wants to lug her laundry home for a weekend. :) Thanks!</p>
<p>What dorm is she living in? You can go past the guard shacks without paying, just don't expect to park anywhere. However, there are stopping/loading areas near New/North and other dorms, but you probably have to stay with the car while you are waiting.</p>
<p>hey, that's what i did last weekend! free laundry's always nice :D i don't know how my parents did it when they came, but they parked in Parking Structure X (the one between New/North and Pardee/Marks). i specifically asked them if they paid, and they said no. i don't know how that worked, but apparently it did....</p>
<p>You might wanna becareful @ PSX because I know somebody who got ticket for 100dollars because he didn't park in the right area... So why don't you stay in the car and make your daughter come down and get in your car?</p>
<p>yeah so just wait in the car then haha. my parents didn't stay long. just picked up the laundry bag and left.</p>
<p>I have gotten in without having to pay for parking before. I just tell them what I'm planning on doing (driving through, picking someone up) and they let me through without paying. If you enter through a certain gate (not sure of which one at the moment), you can tell them you want one hour parking and they will let you through without paying and direct you to the short term parking lot (near commons).</p>
<p>She's in Marks Tower. If I could pull in off Figueroa and call her to come down with her stuff while I wait in the car, that would be perfect. There was a loading zone outside Marks on move-in day, do they let you go someplace like that if you stay in your car?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>Try Gate 2 on Exposition that gets you into a parking meter area around the admission center and Trojan Hall. The traffic there is a lot lighter, so you probably won't attract too much attention from USC people. You don't have to stop at the booth, just go straight and take a right.</p>
<p>And just to clarify, on normal days, they don't make you stop at the entrance booths. You can just take the lane on the right to pass cars that stop there.</p>
<p>they buzz people in through the gates, though some places (I guess parkside, I think) you can just get in. To get to the road that goes past GFS to commons, for example, you need to let them lift the dealy for you.</p>
<p>don't expect "parking", though. There are places to pull over and load/unload, but don't expect to be there more than a minute or two (I would just leave the engine running, even)</p>
<p>If you're up at the northeast end, there are parking meters so a couple quarters will do the trick.</p>
<p>Yeah, on McCarthy (Gate 3?) you can just drive past the gate attendant and park at the various parking meters, although they tend to be full most of the time.</p>
<p>For the 1st 2 weeks of August, when we were at USC with our son, we used the parking meters on campus when we wanted to get out of the car. We liked using Gate 3 when we wanted to be near Pardee Tower & that portion of campus (our son's in that dorm). Otherwise, you can tell the guard you're just picking up your student & they'll let you past. We pulled to the end & waited for our son (whom we called via cell phone). He & our daughter took his last load of things from our car to his dorm & then he came back for final good-byes (this was the day after move-in day). My son is in Pardee & we liked using Gate 3, which is nearest & has a few metered spaces.<br>
Another option is you could have your child meet you at the University Village parking lot, which is across the street from USC, where there is a Bank of America, food court & strip mall. There was a pretty large free lot & no attendant. I think the streets are Jefferson & McClintock (but not sure).</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the advice, it is most helpful!!</p>
<p>Your car can get towed if they see that you park in the UV parking lot for purposes other than going to the places at UV.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Gate attendants won't ask you anything if you just drive by except for after 9 or 10pm into the night.</p></li>
<li><p>You park on campus at your own risk if you don't buy parking. They will send out sudent officers to write tickets at $35 each, which I got several:( But after 9 or 10pm (I am not sure), on-campus parking is free.</p></li>
<li><p>Parking in UV can be risky if you don't go to any store there, or leave UV after some faking. They have security staff to check even though not very often, or very rarely. But I know they do since I paid fine and towing for about $250 once.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I think on all the major streets that border USC (Jefferson, Figueroa, Exposition, Vermont), the parking meters are only in effect from 8-4 or something like that. After 4, the spots are free. I have a slight feeling it's 6 pm not 4 pm. Someone please verify.</p>
<p>You can actually shop at UV & have your child meet you at UV (providing you've kept in touch with child & have arranged meeting time). UV has a nice food court & dollar store + BofAm. I agree your car could be towed if you just leave it there & have no business at UV. My S liked the UV food court, the one time we ate there..</p>
<p>Metered parking around the USC Campus is 1 hour/quarter and then free after six pm, though note than on Figueroa there are rush hour restrictions to ease traffic congestion. Also note that this price holds for the USC side of Exposition Boulevard, but if you park on the Exposition Park side of the street, a quarter only nets you 15 minutes (as if Expo Park parking is more in demand than 'SC!) and meter maids check until 10 pm... plus the ticket is a hefty $73. To the original poster, listen to protokurious if you're looking to go pick up at Marks Tower. Enter through gate 2 (extrance on Exposition between Popovich Hall and the Law School), bypass the parking kiosk, hang a right, and there are meters right there for you, both in front of Trojan Hall and Popovich -- all adjacent to Marks.</p>