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University of Nebraska Medical Center

TravelSmart

What is TravelSmart?

The TravelSmart program promotes active transportation which includes biking, carpooling, taking the bus and walking. All colleagues, faculty and students affiliated with UNMC, Nebraska Medicine and Clarkson College who primarily work or study at the 42nd & Dewey and MMI campuses are welcome to participate.

As a TravelSmart participant, you have access to the following:

  • Free carpool pass.
  • Free Omaha Metro bus rides and access to improved bus stops around campus.
  • Free indoor bike parking and access to lockers and shower facilities.
  • Opportunity to cancel or keep your current parking permit.
  • $3 daily-rate flexible parking for the days you travel to campus by yourself in a vehicle.

The TravelSmart Program aims to:

  • Provide staff and students with cost-effective options for traveling to and from campus.
  • Promote active and healthier modes of travel.
  • Reduce parking pressure and traffic congestion on campus.
  • Reduce vehicle emissions and pollution around campus.
  • Have 35% or more of students and staff regularly travel to and from the 42nd & Dewey campus using active transportation.

Why is TravelSmart important?

At UNMC and Nebraska Medicine, we believe it is important to support commuters coming to work in a way other than driving alone in a car. Active transportation, which includes busing, walking, biking and carpooling have environmental and health benefits such as reducing harmful pollutants in the air and helping participants move more. We have an active commuting goal as a part of our 2030 sustainability master plan goals: for 35% of employees to commute to campus in a way other than alone in a car.

Register for TravelSmart

Learn more about the different modes of TravelSmart transportation:

Frequently Asked Questions

You can email TravelSmart or call 402-559-8580 (ext. 3).

Sign up is free and your free bus pass will continue to be free. It’s not tied to your Metro Credit Union account; your badge is used to identify you as a rider.

If you choose to carpool and all members of the carpool turn in their parking permits, you will receive a free carpool pass to the best parking lot among you based on your group's choice. The person with the best parking lot must register first. 

Yes. As a registered TravelSmart participant, all program benefits are available to you. If you currently use or plan on using more than one active transportation mode, please make sure to mark the preferred modes when you register for the program.

If you’ve already registered for the program, and you would like to start using a different or additional active transportation mode, please call 402-559-8580 (ext. 3) or email TravelSmart so we can update your profile.

TravelSmart is a volunteer program. You are not required to bike, bus, carpool or walk a specific number of times. However, we strongly encourage you to use active transportation to travel to and from campus.

At this time, the TravelSmart program is available to staff and students from UNMC, Nebraska Medicine and Clarkson College who primarily work or study at the 42nd & Dewey campus or the Munroe-Meyer Institute. In the future, this program may be made available to other staff and students.

No, you do not have to cancel your parking permit to participate in TravelSmart. However, be aware that during the program registration process, you will be presented with the option to keep or cancel your parking permit. We encourage you to consider canceling your permit, but it may not be the most desirable option for you from a financial perspective.

The three month trial starts when you turn your permit in. You can turn in your parking permit when you first register or after you have been using active transportation for a while.

Yes. If you are a new student or employee and you register for the TravelSmart program, you can still obtain a parking permit at any point in the future. Parking assignments are based on space availability, rank and start date. You will need to visit Parking Services to obtain a parking permit.
The trial period only applies if you turn in your parking permit. You can try out various active transportation modes for as long as you would like and there is no minimum usage required. If you turn in your parking permit, you have 90 days from the day parking services receives it to request it back for your original lot. If you do that, you are guaranteed the same lot back. If you do so after the 90 days, you are not guaranteed your same lot. If you decide to turn your parking permit in, you can do so at any time.

We recommend you use the maps and route information on Metro’s website. It will always display the most updated information and you can look at a system map or maps of individual routes.

If you have any problems or questions on their website, please feel free to contact us at  402-559-8580 (ext. 3), email TravelSmart or call Metro’s customer service at 402-341-0800.

We strongly discourage the idea of repeatedly canceling or requesting a parking permit. If you plan to only use active transportation during certain seasons, we encourage you to sign up for the TravelSmart program but keep your parking permit and continue paying the regular parking fee.

Parking Services’ campus zip is 5001. Only TravelSmart participants who plan to bus, bike or walk can return their parking permits via interoffice mail. If you are a carpooler and your carpool group wants to cancel your parking permits in order to obtain a free carpool pass, you and your carpool partner(s) must visit parking services in person and return all of your parking permits at the same time. A carpool pass will not be issued unless all parking permits are returned at the same time in person.
You may use active transportation on the days that you do not need your car.  On the other days, you can drive your personal vehicle and, if you do not have a parking permit, park in daily rate flex parking.

Shuttle users are able to download the app “TransLoc” from either the Google Play (android devices) or the Apple App Store on their personal mobile device. 

When users open the app for the first time, they should choose “UNMC Shuttle.” They then will be able to see the shuttle routes and how far away a shuttle is to their stop via GPS tracking. Users also can track the shuttle online on its route without downloading the app. To learn more, visit the TransLoc app website. 

For questions or concerns about the shuttle, call 402-559-3223 or email Fleetops.

Chargepoint stations are on campus and ready to be used. These stations will charge personal electric vehicles faster than a standard outlet, with a full charge possible in four hours or less. These stations are a product of a partnership with OPPD and with a grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust in coordination with the Nebraska Community Energy Alliance.


There are two locations on campus:

  • A station with two stalls in Lot 34 on Emile Street between Shackelford Hall and the Central Utility Plant; and
  • A station with two stalls in Lot 21 by the entrance to the middle level of the Lauritzen Outpatient Center.

The rate to charge is $0.50 for up to four hours daily. After four hours the rate is $3 per hour. Please limit the usage of the charging station to sessions no longer than four hours per day. Failure to observe these restrictions may subject the vehicle to a violation, in addition to the higher hourly rate fee. These stalls are for active charging parking only. Once you are done charging, the vehicle must be moved to allow other users to access the charging station. Both charging stations are available to students, colleagues and the public. 

Sign up to use a Chargepoint station.

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