Transportation and Parking

Our main campus parking garage is currently undergoing renovations; please allow extra time when arriving for appointments.

Parking for families and visitors is available. When you are arrive at our garage, please look for brightly colored signs that direct you into the garage and take a ticket at the entrance gate.

Parents or guardians who park in the garage can purchase a validation ticket for $5 at the Parking Office, located near the Emergency Department, 1st Floor, East Inpatient Tower, from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. This ticket can be used at the exit gate by inserting the original parking ticket taken at the entrance to the garage, followed by the validation ticket. If you do not have a ticket from the entrance, you will pay the daily maximum rate of $7 if your stay was longer than two hours. A discounted parking voucher is recommended if you plan to park for more than two hours.

Valet parking is available in the parking garage Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. There is no additional charge for this service, but regular parking rates do apply. Parking garage attendants are stationed throughout the garage to help direct you to the valet parking area. Signs are also posted to help you find the area, which is on the P-1 main level of the garage.

Valet Parking Pick-Up

Between 7 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, you can pick up your car from the valet station, located in the lobby on the P-1 main level of the parking garage. After 6 p.m., and on weekends, you may pick up your keys from the Security Office, located near the Emergency Department on the 1st Floor, East Inpatient Tower.

Stacked Parking

There are also instances where visitors may need to park their vehicle to the right of travel lanes in the garage, and leave their keys with a parking attendant. In this case, key retrieval times below are applicable.

• If keys are left with an attendant, you may retrieve your keys on the level your parked on before 6 p.m.
• Between 6-9 p.m., keys may be picked on P1 level outside elevator (Main Drop off).
• After 9 p.m. and on weekends, you may pick up your keys from the Security Office, located near the Emergency Department on the 1st Floor, East Inpatient Tower.

Parking for people with disabilities is available on the P-1 parking level. When you first enter the garage, after you pass through the entrance gate, turn left and look for these parking spaces. There are elevators from the P-1 level up to the main hospital entrance. Please use the tan-colored phone located on the P-1 level if you need a wheelchair or help with moving yourself, a patient or visitor into the hospital.

0 - 30 minutes: Free
30 minutes - 60 minutes: $3.00
1 - 2 hours: $5.00
2+ hours: $7.00

Rates are subject to change.

(In by 5 p.m. Friday and out by 7 a.m. Monday)

0 - 30 minutes: Free
30 minutes - 60 minutes: $3.00
1+ hours: $5.00

Rates are subject to change.

The long-term visitor parking passes offer hospital visitors and families the option of unlimited (in and out) access to the visitors parking area of our garage for a period of time. These passes are for a 7-day or 30-day period (depending on the type of pass purchased).

Cost
7-day pass: $25
30-day pass: $100

Where to Purchase
These passes can only be purchased at the Parking Office located on the 1st floor of the East Tower near the Emergency Department (across from Security). 

Parking Office Hours of Operation 
7 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Friday 

Contact Phone Numbers
202-476-5422 or 202-476-5457

Accepted Methods of Payment
Cash, credit card or debit card 

Instructions

First time exiting with a long-term pass:

• Obtain a parking ticket from the ticket machine at the entrance gate.
• Proceed to the Parking Office to purchase a long-term pass.
• When exiting the garage, insert the ticket from the entrance gate into the exit machine and then insert the long-term pass as your form of payment.
• The machine will return the long-term pass; take the long-term pass and exit.

Continued use of a long-term pass:

• When returning to the parking garage, insert the long-term pass into the ticket machine at the entrance to the garage. (Do not take a new ticket.)
• The entrance machine will return the long-term pass; take the long-term pass and enter.
• When exiting the garage, insert the long-term pass into the exit machine. The machine will return the long-term pass; take the long-term pass and exit.

Expiration Date and Time

Your pass will be activated with the time printed on the original parking ticket and will be good for 7 days or 30 days (depending on the type of pass purchased). The expiration date and time is shown on ticket.

Additional Information

• Keep your long-term pass receipt from the Parking Office. This is needed to replace a lost ticket.
• If the pass expires while parked inside the garage, the regular parking rate from the expiration time stamped on the ticket will be charged.
• If the pass expires while outside of the parking garage, the entrance machine will keep the pass.

View this information in a PDF.

For public transportation options within the Washington, D.C., metro region, Metrorail trains or buses are the easiest way to get around:

• Metrorail: The nearest Metro stop is Brookland/CUA (Catholic University) on the Red Line
• Metrobus: The H-1, H-2 and H-4 buses stop in front of the hospital on Michigan Avenue, NW

Shuttle Service: View the new shuttle service timetables (PDF), effective January 2022.

The Children's Metro Shuttle Service is free. 

Shuttle and Metro bus schedules are available at the Welcome Desk. Children’s Metro Shuttle:

• Runs regularly between the hospital and the Brookland/CUA Metro station
• Operates Monday-Friday
• Does not operate on weekends or holidays
• All shuttles (except Brookland) pick up and drop off passengers at the East Wing Emergency Department entrance. The Brookland Metro shuttle bus route picks up and drops off at the ramps and canopies at the end of the East Wing hallway near the Emergency Department.

Several train lines serve Washington, D.C. They arrive and depart at Union Station, which is also a Metrorail stop. From Union Station, you can take the Metrorail to Brookland/CUA Metro, where you will find our free shuttle or a bus to the hospital. From Union Station, you can also take a taxi to the hospital that takes about 20 minutes, depending on traffic.

For more on rail services, visit the websites of Amtrak, Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) or the Virginia Railway Express (VRE). 

Washington, D.C., is served by three major airports: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) and Dulles International Airport (IAD). Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is served by the Metrorail system, shuttles to downtown Washington, D.C., and taxis. Both Baltimore-Washington and Dulles airports have ground transportation services, taxis and shuttles to downtown Washington, D.C.

If you need a taxi, please visit the Welcome Desk in the Costco Wholesale Atrium, which has a phone with a direct line to area taxi companies. You must remain in the Costco Atrium once a taxi company has been called to receive your taxi confirmation number. When your taxi arrives, you will be asked by the Welcome Desk staff to meet your ride at the P-1 level.