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.

Children’s National offers electric vehicle charging stations that are available for a fee for patient families and staff. 

Fee: $0.20 per KwH

On the Main Campus, there are: 

• 6 stations on P1 East for patient and visitor use
• 6 stations on P2 West for employees 
• 5 stations on P3 West for executive staff 

At Brookland parking garage, there are: 

• 8 stations for employees

Patient families, visitors and employees can use the SemaConnect and PlugShare apps to charge their vehicles. Please enter code #CHIL2614 to receive authorization for access.

Download the SemaConnect app:

• For iPhone users
• For Android users

Download the PlugShare app:

• For iPhone users
• For Android users

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.

Our main campus garage is open 24 hours a day.

Rates are:

• 0 - 30 minutes: Free
• 30 minutes – 1 hour: $4
• 1 - 2 hours: $8
• 2 - 3 hours: $12
• Over 3 hours: $16
• Max daily rate: $16
• Lost ticket: $16
• 7 day passes available: $40

Discount is available at the Parking Office for patients and families needing financial assistance.

The 7-day parking passes offer hospital visitors and families the option of unlimited (in and out) access to visitors parking area for a 7-day period of time. 

Cost

• 7-day pass: $40
  

Where to Purchase

• These passes can only be purchased at the Parking Office located on the 1st floor of East Tower near Welcome Desk.

Parking Office Hours of Operation 

• 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday 
  

Contact Phone Numbers

• 202-476-5422
• 202-476-5457

Accepted Methods of Payment

• Cash
• Credit or debit card

How to Use

First time exit with pass: 

• Obtain a parking ticket from the machine at the entrance gate. 
• Proceed to the Parking Office to purchase a pass. 
• Proceed to the exit with the ticket from the entrance gate and the pass. 
• At the exit gate, insert the ticket obtained from the entrance, followed by the pass as form of payment. 
• The pass will be returned.  Take the pass from the exit gate machine.   
  

Continued use of pass   

• When returning to the visitor parking garage, insert the pass into the ticket machine at the entrance to the parking garage.   (Do not take a new ticket). 
• Entrance ticket machine will return the pass and the gate will go up.  
• When exiting the garage, insert the pass into machine. Exit machine will return the pass.  Take the pass from the machine before exiting the garage.

Expiration Date and Time

Important: Pass will be activated with the time printed on the original parking ticket and will be good for 7 days. Expiration date and time is shown on front of the ticket. 

Additional Information

• Keep your long-term pass receipt. This is needed to replace 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. 
  
   

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 shuttle service schedules. (PDF)

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 pick up and drop off passengers at the P1 Entryway

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.