Transportation Committee Meeting
October 16, 2007
11:00 am
Present: Jillian Buckholz, Sustainability Coordinator; Ann Bykerk-Kauffman, Faculty; Lesley Curry, Parking; Beverly Gentry, Strategic Planning; Flynn Hoffman, FMS; Jim Jessee, APO; Suzy Littrell, Cashiering; Russell Mills, Faculty; Glennda Morse, FMS; Rick Rees, Student Activities; Eric Reichel, Chair and UPD Chief; Alan Rellaford, CDES; Ken Sator, EH&S; Joel Trenalone, Facilities Planning; Cale Whitehouse, Staff Council; Julie Wright, AS Env. Affairs; Guests: David Stephen, UHFS, Herman Ellis, SAO; Ed McLaughlin, DCBA; Jon Hooper, Faculty. Kathy Kaiser, Faculty.
Jillian Buckholz announced the Sustainability Conference taking place November 1-4 and provided posters for anyone interested in displaying them in their departments.
Chief Reichel had everyone introduce themselves since there were many guests at this meeting. He stated that each month he sends out pre-scheduled agenda items due to the time limitations and volume of topics this committee deals with.
Transportation Demand Management program – Draft of RFP – Joel Trenalone said he received comments regarding the draft he sent out. They are close to releasing the RFP for this study. Many campuses are doing this type of study by hiring a consultant to bring all needs/options/parking etc. to the table to see if we can help alleviate the parking issues at our campus. Some things on the table are: better ideas for advertising the options that people have regarding parking and other means of transportation to campus, ideas on how to better improve bicycle parking and routing on, and getting to, campus; Chief Reichel said he would like to see it address bike paths and lanes on and around campus – where might we increase this; also, the opportunities for improving lighting. Glennda Morse commented that we’re adding a lot to this project and we don’t know how we’re going to pay for it. Often lighting projects are studied separately. Will be covered with a minor cap job and suggested it be taken out of this study in order to keep the cost down.
Glennda said that anything that relates to bicycles is paid for with funds from the alternative transportation program and therefore, should be separated from this RFP.
Russell Mills commented that an important issue we are not facing is circulation of cars, bikes, peds, in core, outside of core, and people accessing campus in all modes. It is a major problem. Not only how we do it, but how do we deal with the conflicts that arise?
Joel said the goals of this report are to address what the city is concerned with – parking demand and alternative transportation as it relates to the
This report is focusing on parking (bikes & cars), alternative transportation to/from campus, and the demand. We need to report to the city the results of this study. Other issues could be (should be) addressed separately. All other concerns discussed at this meeting will be documented by Joel.
Glennda read from an updated version of the RFP; that version to be circulated to committee members via e-mail ASAP. Joel asked that the members look at it this week and get comments back to him ASAP, as he is trying to keep this moving.
The question was asked, do we have a record of what the city is requesting? Joel said that it’s very general and there isn’t a sample to look at.
Another question was asked if the study project goes into downtown? No, it deals with campus only. Ed Mclaughlin said the DCBA’s major concern is parking. They want to know what effect the Center will have on parking downtown, in the City parking structure, and street parking. Joel said the basis for the study is parking, but Glennda said we are including a request for other information because it ties in closely with what this type of consultant would do normally and we want to get the most for our money.
Russell said they really need to look at a bike plan, not only what is in existence, but also what is envisioned. (City-wide bicycle plan). It was mentioned that the City has a bike plan and it should be referred to in the RFP.
Jim Jessee passed around a graph depicting enrollment numbers per hour by day of the week for FA07 semester. It was pointed out that T TH has the highest enrollment especially between 10 am and 3 pm. This time frame also has the biggest circulation problems on and around campus. Jim is suggesting a non-cost approach to helping alleviate this issue is to change scheduling habits. We are up 500-600 students from last fall on these days. Some of congestion could be alleviated by spreading the scheduling of classes throughout the entire week, (look at Fridays after 1:00, for example). One of the things that could come back from the TDM study is that we alter our scheduling habits. Jim believes this would certainly help us with bike and vehicle parking. He believes this is dramatic – he said literally every room on campus is being filled on T TH. There is no slack whatsoever on those days. Kathy Kaiser stated one of the issues is that female students and faculty feel unsafe going to a night class or leaving a night class because there is no place to park that they can feel safe walking to. We also have parents who cannot do night classes – they have to go during the day while their kids are in school.
Chief Reichel asked if UPD needs to do a better job of getting the message out that the Campus Connection service is available. He wants to make sure his department is providing this service adequately and effectively. Kathy said the comments she has heard were that the service is too slow. Chief Reichel said he would make sure a reminder notice is put out to campus about the Campus Connection, its hours of operation, and that a person could call ANYTIME, not just during those hours.
The comment was made that our space on campus is limited. Jim said according to CO, our space is plentiful. It is perceived as being plentiful because we are not using it throughout the week.
There is pressure to schedule classes in order to get FTE up. This topic was discussed at length. Jim said there is a data store where goals are set for enrollment in the various departments. This information is available on line. It shows how each college is doing regarding enrollment. The website is: http://www.csuchico.edu/vpaa/enrolldata/
Bike Parking Displaced by new
Discussion regarding other possible locations followed. One question was whether covered bike parking has been considered. Glennda reminded everyone that bike parking and stalls are funded out of the alternative transportation budget. Can’t use state dollars to pay for covered bike parking; it needs to be self-funded. That is our dilemma. We all have ideas, but we don’t know how to get over hurdle of how to get it funded.
One of the main topics is that students are concerned about the safety of their bikes. If the bike stall isn’t out where the student can see it, he won’t use it. This is the culture. Unless parking is reasonably accessible and attainable, they are going to lock them to trees and fences, whatever is most convenient. The areas outside of Butte & Plumas have been set aside by the CPE committee, but perhaps we need to reconsider this. There is worry about people riding into these areas…where ped traffic is high.
Glennda would like to see more bike parking on Soweleno; open it up a little farther, come in from W. Legion, Mansion Avenues.
David Stephen shared information regarding what they are losing; what the problems are. He said they want to get the spaces moved when students are here, and in relative proximity to where they live, so they (the students) can have time to move their bikes.
It was also suggested the area between Warner Reception Center & Lassen Hall be considered. A comment made was this works well for people who are riding in; doesn’t work well for those already living on campus. Reminder that this is only temporary (18 months). Another suggestions was the gravel area along soccer field and the green space area outside of the
Agenda items 3, 4, and 5 will be tabled until next month’s meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 12:05 pm.