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Access and Parking
This page is still under construction, sorry!
There are a few transportation options for getting to the Fairfax campus. Highlights include Shuttle access from the Vienna Metro station to the Sandy Creek Transit Center near Research Hall, and shuttle access from the Arlington (Mason Square) and SciTech/Manassas campuses.
See Also:
- George Mason Shuttles
- Transportation Services (Biking, Carpool, etc.)
There are a few locations near the Fairfax campus where you can park for free:
- Street parking along Roberts Rd. Google Street View↗
- About a 10-15 minute walk from the Research Hall (MARC) and the Engineering Building.
- Heed the no-parking signs along certain sections.
- There is usually lots of parking available during the summer, but during peak hours of the semester, you may need to park farther away from campus.
- There are multiple parking lots and garages in Old Town Fairfax. Some are free. See City of Fairfax Parking Policies and Public Parking Resources.
- Old Town is roughly a 30 minute walk from campus, or a 20 minute shuttle ride.
- There is also an interactive map available. Note: We are not responsible for the accuracy of information on this third-party site (Parkopedia).
You can also purchase a permit for the semester or summer. See https://transportation.gmu.edu/parking/#OffCampusStudents
There are multiple transportation options for getting to the Arlington/Mason Square campus. Highlights include the Virginia Square metro stop only 2 blocks away, and Mason Shuttle routes which come from Fairfax campus or the SciTech campus in Manassas.
See the GMU Parking & Transportation page here: https://transportation.gmu.edu/arlington-campus/#RegionalTransportation
There are on-premises parking garages with bridge/stairwell access to the FUSE. All three connected garages offer pay parking with different rates for each. Note that we cannot purchase validations for students due to certain policies. The parking office is also unable to issue validations for the "FUSE PARKING" garage under any circumstances, but they have the power to issue validations for the Van Metre and attached Vernon Smith garage.
4 Hour Limit Paid Public Parking - 1 min walk away Zone 54285 - https://maps.app.goo.gl/xV5svC8owpbiCbCR6
You can purchase a permit which will let you park in a garage for the whole semester. See: https://transportation.gmu.edu/arlington-campus/#arlington-students
If you have a Fairfax General permit or higher, you can apply to convert your parking pass to an Arlington Vernon Smith garage (sometimes referred to as just "Smith garage") permit. See the Student Parking > Supplemental Parking Permits here: https://transportation.gmu.edu/arlington-campus/#arlington-students
Instructions for Vernon Smith Garage Parkers
After your supplementary parking pass has been approved or if you have purchased a permit for the Smith garage, you will need to pick up your proximity access keycard in person. Visit the Mason Square Parking Services Office in Van Metre Hall, Room 219.When you pick up your Vernon Smith garage pass, park in Vernon Smith garage (attached to Van Metre and the FUSE via a skyway), or under Van Metre hall. Avoid parking in the "FUSE PARKING" garage as Mason Parking will not be able to validate your parking.
This information will be given to you upon receiving keycard access to the Vernon Smith garage (Smith garage):
Location Address: 3434 Washington Blvd, Arlington 3351, VA
This parking garage has two entrances/exits as it shows on the diagram. When you enter to the garage, please tap the access card reader where it shows on the diagram. You must tap the access card at all times, even when the gate is up . If you are having issues with the access card, please hit the help button on the screen for assistance, and when someone responds to you, provide the card number that shows on the actual access card, either the 4 or 5 digits.
Just in case you have pulled a ticket upon entering the garage and when you exit if your access card doesn't work, hit the help button on the screen and speak with someone and under no circumstances should you pay, since you already purchased a semester permit.
Please park at any of the GMU spaces on any floor where the sign says "faculty and staff" even if it doesn't say "student".
If you have any issues, please hit the help button on the screen.
-- Mason Square Parking Services.
If you decide to street park or park in a nearby location in Arlington, please heed all parking notices to avoid getting ticketed or towed. Remember: If a parking spot is too good to be true, look extra hard for parking notices.
For the most part, only Mason students can be given a physical Mason ID keycard or digital Mason ID. Thus, only Mason students can get keycard access to the building.
If you are a Mason student with a Patriot Pass / NetID (a gmu.edu email) and a G-Number, please fill out the following form, and notify Cameron or Endi that you've filled it out (the form won't automatically notify us of your response).
On Mason campuses, you may encounter these wireless networks (SSIDs):
-
MASON-SECURE. This network gives you access to the internet and certain local network devices. May be phased out at some point. -
eduroam(recommended). Sign in with your NetID (your gmu.edu or other .edu email) and get connected with the same network access asMASON-SECURE.
Plus, automatically get free internet access at over 38,000 campuses worldwide. -
MASONAn unencrypted network offering temporary guest access to the internet only. -
ResNetStudents staying in residence halls have access to this.
MASON-SECURE and eduroam are enterprise networks using WPA2-Enterprise security. Older devices and embedded devices such as Raspberry Pis may need additional configuration, and many older devices and certain robots may not be able to connect to these networks. See
In our lab spaces, we have setup routers and WiFi access points with WPA2 security, which most devices support. Ask in the Slack for the SSID and password and include information on which location you're trying to connect at.
Caution
NB: WPA2/3 access points are inherently less secure than the managed WPA2-Enterprise networks mentioned above, and may in some cases provide access to other MASON-internal network resources. It is your responsibility to keep your devices secure and avoid disseminating or sharing the passkey. Take this seriously. We have had no major issues so far, so take the necessary precautions to avoid causing any.
Any Slack user in our workspace can invite others to join. We prefer if you use a gmu.edu email to sign up.
Nifty access is managed by Cameron and Kevin Z. Please message them for access.
Github access is currently being managed by Kevin Z on Slack and Adith (Gagan Manjunatha) https://github.com/SirBlobby. They can be reached on Slack or via email.
Some repositories do not require explicit access to work on. For example, the https://github.com/GMU-ASRC/neuroswarm and https://github.com/kenblu24/RobotSwarmSimulator repositories are not accepting collaborators. Instead, those looking to contribute to these repos should fork the repository, create a branch for the contribution with changes, and submit a pull request.
The GMU Office of Research Computing (ORC) provides some useful resources and services.
- Argo and Hopper (newer) are high-performance computing clusters which can be used by students for faculty-sponsored research.
- You need to apply for access and complete a training course before you can use the cluster.
- ORC runs their own Gitlab instance for hosting Git repositories.
- Only Mason students can register for a gitlab.orc.gmu.edu account.
For more information, see https://wiki.orc.gmu.edu/mkdocs/
Please message Kevin Z for access to the lab workstations.