MASTER PLAN: As campus population grows, so will the value of a U-PASS

When UW transportation planners consider how to cope with the expected increase in campus population in the years 2002-2012, the successful U-PASS program will remain the cornerstone of their efforts.

The key elements of U-PASS are providing members of the campus community with incentives and options for getting to work other than the single occupancy vehicle (SOV). Those options include public transit, carpooling, vanpooling and a reimbursed ride home. The program has been very successful in causing large numbers of students, faculty and staff to switch to one of these options, reducing the burden on city streets and campus parking lots.

The percentage of students, faculty and staff who use public transportation increased from 21 percent in 1989 to 29 percent in 1998. While campus population increased by 5,000, the number of automobile trips to the university campus decreased by 3,000 and the number of campus parking stalls decreased by 400.

The University Transportation Committee, which is the key advisory body on campus transportation issues, has been discussing ideas that will be explored in public meetings leading up to the adoption of the university's master plan.

While the current U-PASS program provides significant incentives for not bringing a car to campus, the UW could choose to provide greater disincentives for driving, if it chose. "Currently, the more students drive to campus, the more they pay," says Peter Dewey, transportation manager. "But if you are a faculty or staff member and you buy a monthly pass, there is no incentive not to drive every day. Technologies exist to charge people for each trip to campus, without using the cumbersome procedure of daily passes. Such technologies are already used, for example, on toll roadsalthough ours would be a novel application. We need to find ways to help people make the decision not to drive every day, when such a decision is possible.

"The U-PASS provides flexibility," Dewey says. "People don't have the same needs every day. Our goal is to provide incentives for many different ways of commuting other than the SOV."

One change that is likely to occur during the next master plan cycle is light rail service to the campus. Along with light rail will come a redeployment of existing bus service to downtown, potentially providing additional service from campus to the north, east and west. "Right now, many buses leaving campus are full," Dewey says.

Because buses are full and the university will have to pay additional sums to Metro or Sound Transit for increased ridership (thus potentially raising the cost of a
U-PASS), one strategy being considered is to encourage people who live near campus to walk or ride a bike. Surveys show that the single biggest reason for people not bringing a bike to campus is their perception that there is no safe and easy bike path. The UW will be working with the city of Seattle to develop bike routes and to disseminate information better about the routes that do exist.

"In addition, we need to spread the word to students entering the UW that they should bring their bike with them, since in many cases it will be the fastest and most convenient way to get to campus," Dewey says.

Commuting patterns are affected strongly by where people live. One issue raised in transportation planning is the university's housing policy, both on campus and off.

If the UW grows by 5,000 students, 850 new units of student housing would need to be built on campus just to keep the same proportion as exists now. Although no estimate exists for off-campus housing, it stands to reason that nearby housing would have to be created to allow the same proportion of students to live in the region of the university. Developing on campus housing is costly, and it would consume space that might go for academic needs. And historically, the UW has not become involved extensively in the question of private housing in surrounding neighborhoods.

But the costs of doing nothing regarding housing are real, too. Because of the housing prices and rents, people will increasingly choose to live farther away, reducing the number of viable options they have for getting to campus. While the neighborhood plan for the University District calls for increased density, should the UW play a more prominent role in the plan's implementation? These issues are not easy to decide.

Other institutional policies can affect campus transportation issues. These include scheduling. Right now, the peak campus population is in Autumn Quarter. If the university wants to minimize the transportation impact of growth, it might utilize the entire calendar year better for scheduling classesincluding, and especially, summer.

A growing number of individuals are traveling to off-campus sites where the UW has officesprincipally in Northgate, downtown, Fremont and south Lake Union. These people's trips to campus now comprise about 5 percent of total trips here, and their number is growing. "It's possible that the numbers of people at several of these locations will reach a 'critical mass,' so that better public transit can be provided from those locations to campus," Dewey says. Also, at several of the remote locations, workers can avail themselves of free parking, which provides no incentives for non-SOV commuting.

Telecommuting is an option that needs to be explored more fully. The UW is developing a new policy that will empower deans and vice presidents to allow telecommuting, by permitting it when it also supports the university's operations in a manner as complete as they are being supported now.

Student employment presents possibilities for reducing the number of SOVs coming to campus. Currently, about 70 percent of undergraduate students who work have jobs off campus. Could the campus provide more student employment? Also, the university could investigate a car-sharing program, in which a private entity would own cars that would be permitted to park on campus and be shared among students whose needs are occasional.

Occasional visitors to campus, and patients at UW Medical Center, may be included in the transit program. Right now, there's no way for departments to provide bus tickets to campus visitors. "This will change in the future," Dewey says.

The goals of the new transportation plan, he says, will be to create more flexible options for the commuter, and to provide economic incentives for people not to drive alone. ¶