Go car-free and get rewarded
LEXINGTON, KY (April 23, 2025) — University of Kentucky Transportation Services is offering incentive programs to students and employees who choose to go car-free on campus. These programs are designed to support and encourage sustainable transportation choices.
Applications for the Bike Voucher and Cash Out programs are now open. Learn more about them below.
Bike Voucher program: $500 for a new bike and gear
Now in its 11th year, UK’s Bike Voucher program is open to both students and employees. It offers qualified applicants $500 each in vouchers that are valid at any participating local bike shop. These vouchers can be applied toward the purchase of a new bike or bicycle gear and accessories.
Students who want to go car-free, but are worried about biking in bad weather, can receive 10 free single-day parking permits that can be used, when necessary, with the option of purchasing up to 40 more single-day permits per fiscal year.
In return, participants sign a car-free commitment for two years.
To be eligible, applicants must live off campus and have had a parking permit this past fiscal year (July 1-June 30) or be new to the university with a start date of September 2024 or later.
Vouchers will be distributed to successful applicants beginning July 1.
Cash Out program: Get paid to skip a parking permit
Cash Out is a program designed for UK employees. Participants who choose to forego purchasing a parking permit for one year receive $200 over the one year, evenly divided across their paychecks.
They also receive 10 complimentary single-day parking passes for when they must bring a vehicle to campus, plus the option of purchasing an additional 40 single-day passes per fiscal year.
To be eligible, employees must have had a parking permit for the 2024-25 fiscal year (July 1-June 30) or be a new employee with a start date of September 2024 or later. Applicants must also have work assignments that are day shift and based on main campus.
Only the first 100 qualified applicants will be accepted into the Cash Out program, so apply early. Participants are limited to one alternative transportation incentive program which means that employees can either participate in Cash Out or Bike Voucher, but not both.
Transportation Services staff will begin reviewing applications this summer and will notify applicants via email if they are approved. Interested employees are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
More ways to go car-free
Additional alternative transportation programs include Big Blue Cycles and the Semester Bike Lottery. Applications for these programs will open this fall.
If you’re interested in going car-free but are confused about potential commuting routes, UK Transportation Services also offers personalized commute planning.
Act now to take advantage of these opportunities. For more details, visit the Transportation Services website or email transportation@uky.edu.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.