At Rutgers the closest lot is the most expensive one and it may not open at all. Johnson Park sits across River Road from the SHI Stadium south entrance and costs $43 a car, but Rutgers says its availability is weather dependent, because it is a park. The dependable option is $32 at Jersey Mike's Arena with a free shuttle to the stadium. Free parking exists but not for you unless you work or study here: a university parking decal covers it, and only at Jersey Mike's Arena and the College Avenue lots. Two rules worth reading twice. Gameday lots no longer take cash at all. And if you park in a stadium lot and do not go to the game, Rutgers will ask you to leave at kickoff.
The short answer
Best value: Jersey Mike's Arena gameday lots at $32 a car, tax included, with free shuttle service to SHI Stadium. Closest, and dearest: Johnson Park across from the south entrance on River Road, $43 a car, opening five hours before kickoff, and Rutgers warns it is weather dependent. RVs, oversized vehicles and buses: $100 a game, Jersey Mike's Arena only, first come first served, plus $25 if you have a car in tow. Free, but only with a university decal: Jersey Mike's Arena and College Avenue lots. Worst plan: bringing cash, or bringing a trailer, because neither works here.
At $32, 17 of the 27 College stadiums we have priced cost less and 9 cost more, and this is one of 19 where you can park free nearby instead. See every College Sports stadium ranked.
Compare every option
| Option | Cost | Walk | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jersey Mike's Arena gameday lotsStadium lot | $32 per car, tax included | None, free shuttle service runs to SHI Stadium | Almost every visitor, because it is cheaper than the close lot and comes with a bus |
| Johnson ParkStadium lot | $43 per car, tax included | Across River Road from the SHI Stadium south entrance | Being closest, if the weather has cooperated |
| RVs, oversized vehicles and busesStadium lot | $100 per game, plus $25 for a car in tow | Jersey Mike's Arena, with the free shuttle | RVs and charter groups, with no way to reserve |
| Free parking, if you have a university decalFree street | Free with a Rutgers parking decal | Jersey Mike's Arena or the College Avenue lots | Rutgers faculty, staff and students, and nobody else |
Every option, in detail
Stadium lot
Jersey Mike's Arena gameday lots
$32 per car, tax includedNone, free shuttle service runs to SHI Stadium /// Five hours before kickoff
Day of game parking is on the Livingston, College Avenue and Busch campuses, and the Jersey Mike's Arena lots are $32 a car with tax included. Free shuttle bus service to SHI Stadium runs on gameday, and the Arena lots are also where ADA parking, RVs, buses and box trucks go, so it is the hub rather than an overflow. Rutgers publishes route directions to every coloured lot from both Route 18 and Route 287.
Heads up: Gameday parking lots no longer accept cash, at all, so bring a card. Every space in every lot is filled in order, front to back, first come first served with no exceptions, so you do not choose your spot. And if your group wants to be together, Rutgers requires you to enter the lot at the same time displaying matching passes. A parking pass here is also a revocable licence: Rutgers states management may revoke it and refuse entry or eject you from any lot for any reason.
Via scarletknights.com (Rutgers Athletics publishes the $32 tax included Jersey Mike's Arena rate, the three campuses with day of game parking, the free shuttle service to SHI Stadium, the no cash rule, the front to back first come first served fill, the requirement to enter together with matching passes, and the revocable licence language.)
Stadium lot
Johnson Park
$43 per car, tax includedAcross River Road from the SHI Stadium south entrance /// Five hours before kickoff
Johnson Park is directly across from the stadium's south entrance on River Road and it is the shortest walk Rutgers sells, at $43 a car including tax. It opens five hours before kickoff, the same as the rest.
Heads up: Rutgers states plainly that availability of the Johnson Park lot is weather dependent, which is what you would expect of a park being used as a lot, so it can simply not be open on the day you arrive. Have Jersey Mike's Arena as the fallback, since it is $11 cheaper and comes with a shuttle. RVs and buses are not permitted in Johnson Park at all.
Via scarletknights.com (Rutgers Athletics publishes the $43 tax included Johnson Park rate, its location across from the SHI Stadium south entrance on River Road, the five hour opening, the weather dependent caveat, and the exclusion of RVs and buses from that lot.)
Stadium lot
RVs, oversized vehicles and buses
$100 per game, plus $25 for a car in towJersey Mike's Arena, with the free shuttle /// Five hours before kickoff, first come first served
Gameday parking for oversized vehicles, including RVs and buses, is $100 a game and only at Jersey Mike's Arena, on a first come first served basis. Free shuttle service to SHI Stadium is provided. Charter buses are the same $100 and follow signs to Jersey Mike's Arena or the Silver Lot with a pass. Box trucks are restricted to the Silver or Jersey Mike's Arena lots.
Heads up: Three things to plan around. There is no reservation, so a $100 space is only yours if you arrive early enough. A car in tow costs an additional $25. And Rutgers states that parking passes are valid for motor vehicle parking only, one space per vehicle, no trailers, so a trailer is not simply an extra fee here, it is not permitted.
Via scarletknights.com (Rutgers Athletics publishes the $100 per game oversized vehicle rate, the Jersey Mike's Arena restriction and first come first served basis, the free shuttle, the $100 charter bus rate with its signage routing, the box truck restriction, the additional $25 fee for a car in tow, and the one space per vehicle no trailers rule.)
Free street
Free parking, if you have a university decal
Free with a Rutgers parking decalJersey Mike's Arena or the College Avenue lots /// Five hours before kickoff
Rutgers does have free gameday parking and it is worth knowing exactly who it is for. University parking decals held by faculty, staff and students provide free parking, but they are accepted only in the Jersey Mike's Arena and College Avenue gameday cash parking lots. If you are affiliated with Rutgers, that turns a $32 or $43 gameday into nothing.
Heads up: If you are visiting, this is not available to you and there is no visitor equivalent, so the honest floor at SHI Stadium is $32. The decal is also not valid everywhere: it covers only those two lots, so a decal holder who drives to Johnson Park still pays.
Via scarletknights.com (Rutgers Athletics states that University Parking Decals held by faculty, staff and students provide free parking and that they are accepted only in the Jersey Mike's Arena and College Avenue gameday cash parking lots.)
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Skip parking entirely
The free shuttle from Jersey Mike's Arena is the transport Rutgers actually runs, and its gameday map marks separate pregame pickup, pregame drop off and half or postgame pickup points, so the stop you use changes through the day.
Free shuttle from Jersey Mike's Arena
Free with parking thereRuns to SHI Stadium on gameday from the Jersey Mike's Arena lots, including for RV and bus passengers. Rutgers' gameday parking map distinguishes pregame bus route pickup, pregame bus route drop off and half or postgame bus route pickup as different points, so check the map rather than returning to where you were dropped.
NJ Transit to New Brunswick
See the carrierFans describe reaching SHI Stadium by taking NJ Transit to New Brunswick station, roughly a mile from the stadium, then a campus bus or a rideshare across the river. We could not confirm a gameday connection, a walking route or a fare on either Rutgers' or NJ Transit's own pages, so treat this as a lead worth checking rather than a plan.
Reported by fans, with no official page confirming it. This is a fan report from a 2026 discussion of rail access to college stadiums, describing New Brunswick station as about a mile from SHI Stadium with NJ Transit and select Amtrak service. Neither the distance nor any gameday connection is confirmed on Rutgers' or NJ Transit's own pages, so no figure appears here.
Driving in from Route 18 or Route 287
Free adviceRutgers publishes turn by turn directions to each coloured lot, Green, Yellow, White, Brown, Blue, Purple, Scarlet and Silver, from Route 18 and in some cases Route 287. Most run off the SHI Stadium and Busch Campus exit on 18 onto Campus Road, then Sutphen Road or Frelinghuysen Road depending on the lot. Rutgers also reserves the right to change lot locations for safety, security or weather, so read the map for the game you are attending.
When to get there
Parking lots open five hours before kickoff, including Johnson Park, and kickoff is set about a week out by television so treat that as relative. Arriving early matters more here than at most stadiums because every lot fills front to back on a strict first come first served basis with no exceptions, so your walk is decided by your arrival time rather than by which lot you chose. If you are travelling with other cars, you have to enter the lot together with matching passes, so agree a meeting point before the campus rather than after it. Bring a card, because gameday lots no longer take cash.
Getting out after
Two published rules shape the end of the day. Parking lots close at dusk, which is a real constraint on a night game and on any postgame plans in the lot. And the shuttle route changes: Rutgers' gameday map marks pregame drop off and half or postgame pickup as separate locations, so the place you got off is not necessarily the place you get back on. One more that is unusual enough to state: all stadium parking lots are reserved for people attending the game, and Rutgers says that patrons who do not attend will be asked to leave the lots at kickoff time.
Tailgating rules
Tailgating is allowed but tightly bounded. Lots open five hours before kickoff and close at dusk, spaces are limited, and Rutgers requires the tailgate to be confined to a small area around your vehicle without ever blocking a traffic aisle or another space. Kegs, beer balls, and tents or canopies larger than 10 feet by 10 feet are prohibited, and none of those items may be in the parking lots or adjacent areas at any time.
On fire, Rutgers is specific in a way that tells you something about the site. Open flames other than approved grills are not permitted, campfires and bonfires are prohibited, charcoal has to go in the specially marked yellow barrels placed around the lots, and there is a separate instruction that there be no open flame under solar panels, because several Rutgers lots are covered by solar canopies. On alcohol, the language is enforcement rather than permission: university regulations and state statutes on drug and alcohol consumption are strictly enforced, and Rutgers police and athletics ask people to drink responsibly and not drive. Groups wanting to tailgate together have to arrive together with matching passes, since spaces are assigned front to back on arrival.
Questions, answered
- How much does parking cost at SHI Stadium?
- Stadium lots start at $32. Best value: Jersey Mike's Arena gameday lots at $32 a car, tax included, with free shuttle service to SHI Stadium. Closest, and dearest: Johnson Park across from the south entrance on River Road, $43 a car, opening five hours before kickoff, and Rutgers warns it is weather dependent. RVs, oversized vehicles and buses: $100 a game, Jersey Mike's Arena only, first come first served, plus $25 if you have a car in tow. Free, but only with a university decal: Jersey Mike's Arena and College Avenue lots. Worst plan: bringing cash, or bringing a trailer, because neither works here.
- Is there free parking near SHI Stadium?
- Free parking, if you have a university decal: Free with a Rutgers parking decal, Jersey Mike's Arena or the College Avenue lots. If you are visiting, this is not available to you and there is no visitor equivalent, so the honest floor at SHI Stadium is $32. The decal is also not valid everywhere: it covers only those two lots, so a decal holder who drives to Johnson Park still pays.
- What time should I get to a Rutgers game?
- Parking lots open five hours before kickoff, including Johnson Park, and kickoff is set about a week out by television so treat that as relative. Arriving early matters more here than at most stadiums because every lot fills front to back on a strict first come first served basis with no exceptions, so your walk is decided by your arrival time rather than by which lot you chose. If you are travelling with other cars, you have to enter the lot together with matching passes, so agree a meeting point before the campus rather than after it. Bring a card, because gameday lots no longer take cash.
- Can you get to SHI Stadium without a car?
- The free shuttle from Jersey Mike's Arena is the transport Rutgers actually runs, and its gameday map marks separate pregame pickup, pregame drop off and half or postgame pickup points, so the stop you use changes through the day. Free shuttle from Jersey Mike's Arena: Free with parking there.
The closest lot is the most expensive and it might not open. Johnson Park is $43 across River Road from the south entrance, and Rutgers says its availability is weather dependent. Jersey Mike's Arena is $32 with a free shuttle.
Gameday lots no longer accept cash. Bring a card.
Free parking exists only for Rutgers faculty, staff and students with a university decal, and only in the Jersey Mike's Arena and College Avenue lots. There is no visitor equivalent, so $32 is the real floor.
No trailers, at all. Passes are valid for motor vehicle parking only, one space per vehicle. An RV with a car in tow pays $100 plus $25, and RVs and buses cannot use Johnson Park.
You cannot pick your space and you cannot save one. Every lot fills front to back on arrival, and groups must enter together displaying matching passes.
If you park in a stadium lot and do not attend the game, Rutgers will ask you to leave at kickoff. Lots also close at dusk.
One rule that says a lot about the site: no open flame under solar panels, because several Rutgers lots sit under solar canopies.
Sourced from the stadium, the city, local outlets, and fans who park here every week. Checked July 2026, and we recheck three times a year. Prices and lot rules change, so every claim above either links where it came from or says plainly that it is fan-reported and unconfirmed. Click through before you build your day around one spot.
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Dispatch Sports, “Parking at SHI Stadium: Rutgers Scarlet Knights Gameday Guide.” Checked 2026-07. https://dispatchsports.com/college/rutgers/parking
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