Short-Term Parking Lot

$28 a day buys you the absolute shortest walk at EUG

The Short-Term Parking Lot sits directly in front of the Eugene Airport terminal, closer than the Long-Term and Economy options and capped at just 236 spaces. It’s the pay-more, walk-less choice for drop-offs, same-day meetings, and quick overnights where time near the curb matters more than the daily rate.

Rates top out at $28 per day, with a posted 30‑minute free grace period in this lot. After the first half hour, charges step up in hourly increments based on the Short-Term schedule, so quick terminal runs stay relatively cheap while anything over a couple of hours starts to look like full-day pricing.

Disabled veterans and Wounded Warriors who qualify under the city’s rules can leave a car here for up to 14 consecutive days at no charge. After that, billing switches to the Economy Lot daily rate, which comes in well below the $28 Short-Term cap and softens the cost for longer trips out of EUG.

ADA spaces physically marked in the Short-Term lot are an important nuance: they bill at the Economy rate instead of the Short-Term rate. For anyone using those spots, you still get the front‑row walk to the terminal doors while paying what you’d normally pay to park in the more distant budget lot.

Locals on Oregon travel forums say they only use this lot for same‑day or overnight runs, defaulting to Long-Term or Economy once a trip stretches beyond a day. That habit lines up with the pricing math: on a three‑ or four‑day trip, Short-Term’s $28 daily charge quickly overshoots the savings from the marginally shorter walk.

One operational quirk: only the first exit lane at the plaza takes cash; every other lane is card-only. If you’re paying with bills or coins, line up for that first booth instead of getting stuck in a card lane and needing staff help to get out.

Pro tip: For holiday weekends or big University of Oregon events, have a backup plan in mind, because a 236‑space Short-Term lot can fill, and the overflow move to Long-Term or Economy adds a few minutes of walking.