If part of your University of Tennessee game-day tradition is to arrive way early and get a primo metered parking spot on Volunteer Boulevard, you’ll want to know that, starting Saturday, Sept. 8, the cost to park there has been raised to reflect market rate. 
 
For years, the rate to park using the 10-hour meters for the 186 parking spaces along Volunteer Boulevard had been unchanged. That rate was 30 cents an hour on game day – the same rate for parking there during the week, when there wasn’t a special event drawing 100,000 Vol fans to the stadium a few blocks away.
 
Parking on Volunteer Boulevard on home-game football Saturdays will cost a $25 flat fee, starting with the Sept. 8 home opener against East Tennessee State University (4 p.m. kickoff).
 
Payment will be accepted by credit card only, and parkers who don't pay will be subject to citations. Signs will be placed along Volunteer Boulevard with instructions for how to pay the flat fee, and the screens on the meters will display that information as well.

The 30-cent rate was a steal, but it didn’t reflect true supply and demand. On home game Saturdays, public parking costs $40 per vehicle on the Poplar Street surface lot. The Main Street, City County Building and Locust Street garages charge $20 to park. It’s $15 to park at Dwight Kessel Garage, and $10 to park at the Civic Coliseum Garage or Blackstock Avenue lot.
 
The State Street and Market Square garages are free on game days, because they service other parkers – Farmers’ Market shoppers, for example, or people attending a movie at the Regal Riviera downtown.
 
Going to market rates on the Volunteer Boulevard meters will generate as much as $33,000 a year in revenues. All City of Knoxville parking revenues are used to support parking and infrastructure improvements in the downtown and UT areas.
 
To study your parking options for UT games, visit https://bit.ly/2MKGBnT or http://knoxparking.com/.
 
If you don’t want the hassle of driving and parking, remember: #KATGoesThere.
 
Knoxville Area Transit offers Passenger Playbook guides - click here - to assist riders in using KAT's fixed routes to reach Cumberland Avenue, just two blocks from Neyland Stadium. A day pass costs $4, or $2 for seniors 65 and older, persons with disabilities, and students age 18 and under with proper ID. 
 
KAT also offers football shuttle service, also available for $10 round trip from the Old City, Civic Coliseum or Market Square; parking fees may apply, depending on where you park to catch the shuttle. 

Day passes and wristbands are available at the Knoxville Transit Station (301 Church Ave.) starting a week before game day. 

For additional information, visit www.katbus.com or call 865-637-3000.