Asheville on the Ground has an excellent report on discussions at UNC Asheville regarding parking and upcoming construction:
Reporting now from UNCA at the Transportation Planning Forum. Its been advertised all week on campus. About 25 people are gathered in dining room area, most seem to be staff from various university departments, a few city of Asheville employees and about six students.
I bicycled over, along the new side walk on Broadway, then up the steep hill onto campus, where bike paths and bike racks are sparse.
The problem: 200 parking spaces on campus will be temporarily lost during construction of new Health and Wellness center. Total project $42 million, 131,000 square feet. The building will take over existing Parking lot E which will be closed till January, 2011. When project is complete, it will include a new parking deck. This according to Steve Baxley of Campus Operations.
Baxley says he is responsible for administration of parking programs on campus. It is important to “balance impact of additional parking on campus, with what we would do environmentally to the campus if we continued to provide car parking… The cost to build one parking space in a deck at UNCA costs $14-17,000 each, he reports.
$14-17,000 each? These polluting cars fare far better than many of Asheville’s working poor!! Many, myself included, live on much, much less than $14,000 a year!
“You cannot separate the transportation issues of the university, in the middle of Asheville, from transportation issues of Asheville itself,” Bagley notes.
Cathy Molin, Asheville’s Transportation Demand Management Coordinator reports about the programs in city to promote alternative transportation, including the Way to Go Commuter Club. and the Passport program that allows staff, faculty and students to ride the bus for free…There was a 280% increase in riders from Nov. 2006, Oct. 2007 attributed to the program, she says.
“I tried to flash my One Card last week for a free bus ride to campus (I’m a member of the UNCA College for Seniors), but the bus driver would have nothing to do with that! “Your card’s the wrong color!!”
Molin also announced that the city’s 18th Strive Not to Drive day will be held May 16th, in connection with National bike to work week May 12-16. She had copies to share of Asheville’s Comprehensive bicycle plan recently approved.
Yuri Koslen, UNCA’s first Transportation Planner, gave a brief overview of the transportation proposal. He said next year the required student parking fee will be reduced from $70 to $30. The $30 would be used to help fund alternative transportation initiatives. Students will have option to buy full semester permit, or join CAP program and be rewarded for alternative transportation use. The new transportation proposal would include:
1. Shuttle: goal to provide commuter students another way to get to campus from apartments nearby, with links to bus routes.
2.CAP program: Commuter Assistance Program.
3. On-line ride board. Current board devised for freshman without cars. Looking to improve ride board. Partner with other campuses, perhaps. Increase pool of people with access.
4. Parking scholarship for those with financial transportation need.
He reminded the group: “It’s less expensive to provide alternatives than to provide more parking!”Chris Bell, Chair of the transportation committee and an economics professor said, “The idea here is to provide people incentives not to drive if they can avoid it. …the intent is to give people alternatives so they can take advantage of option of not buying a year long pass.”