Transportation Survey Results

Executive Summary

To alleviate the impending load on an already overburdened parking situation on campus and to ease commuting costs, a survey was sent via e-mail on June 23, 2008, to all staff and faculty, including adjuncts, staff, graduate students and commuter students in the UNH community.  The survey's purpose was to identify ways to encourage drivers of single occupant cars to find alternate ways to get to and from UNH.  In addition, background research into commuting alternatives has shed some light on alternatives that may help alleviate parking congestion and emissions.  While there is no easy answer to the parking situation, several alternatives implemented simultaneously may help UNH manage parking without alienating community members, especially students.

The survey was distributed to 2,746 people of whom 1,002 responded, a respectable 36% response rate.  Of these 42% said they had no interest because they lived so close by that it was not cost and time effective for them to carpool, or that they needed their cars for additional transportation such as to and from work, to transport their children, etc.  Another common reason was variable and demanding schedules that preclude a predictable schedule for carpooling.  Among these respondents there still may be some limited opportunities for respondents to use train service, shuttle service, or some combination of car and shuttle service.

The remaining 584 (58%) respondents registered some interest in alternative commuting methods. Many of the survey options and additional suggestions are below:

1. Carpooling was a popular alternative among respondents (170), though individual schedules vary widely. Rideworks and/or setting up an electronic community bulletin board dedicated to carpooling and vanpooling would be a very significant step toward coordinated carpooling.  To begin the carpool coordination process, 180 of the respondents will receive information about others within their zip codes, who are looking for carpool partners.  Providing an incentive of guaranteed parking for carpoolers would help promote carpooling.

2. Another popular alternative is commuting by train using pre-tax dollars, with a shuttle to and from Union Station (85 respondents). Respondents noted an interest in a shuttle to pick up riders as early as 7:45 a.m. and drop off as late as 9:30 p.m.

3. Vanpool had the lowest interest (10 respondents).  Some of the low response rate may be due to a lack of understanding of the program, as well as program restrictions that require participants to have a one-way commute of at least 10 miles.

4. Any of the above alternatives would be considered by 123 respondents.

5. Other:  Forty six respondents would be interested in other alternatives such as: bicycling to campus given the appropriate infrastructure (bike racks, lockers, access to showers), catching a shuttle bus from a commuter parking lot (e.g. by Exit 42 off I95 or the intersection of the Merritt Parkway and Rt 34, the Sawmill campus, or a nearby parking lot that could be rented by UNH and be given adequate lighting and security checks.), telecommuting, or working extended days for a four-day work week extended across different people within a department.

6. Provide a shuttle bus for local commuters at convenient locations.  Use school bus route software to design routes.

Preliminary and secondary research suggested additional options as follows:

7. Use Rideworks: www.rideworks.com. a regional non-profit agency, which can help UNH coordinate carpooling, vanpooling, train service, and telecommuting at no cost to UNH. Representative will come to campus to meet with administrators and to present options to employees.

8. Zipcar, the world's largest car sharing and car club provider, has a new initiative with universities to provide rental cars by the hour or day.  This might be ideally targeted at residential students who would contract to be Zipcar users.  While there is an initial investment, Zipcar has data to support that for every car they supply, 14 or more spaces are freed, and within two years the program should be profitable for the university. Our contact is Jenny Larios Berlin: jennylb@zipcar.com. But time is of the essence.  The contract process takes 4 - 6 weeks.

9. Alter class schedules to expand the time between classes.  This could allow for better transportation between campuses as well as allow those who are leaving campus time to vacate their parking space while incoming students for the next period could park and get to class for the next class period.  Adding 10 minutes between the last "day" classes and the first of the "evening" classes would be especially helpful.

 

Suggested Action Steps

1. Work with Rideworks:  www.rideworks.com, to implement multiple carpooling, vanpooling, train service, telecommuting and other initiatives.
2. Set up electronic bulletin board for UNH community to find others with similar commutes.
3. Provide incentives for carpooling, or vanpooling, such as preferential parking.
4. Provide shuttle service to and from distant parking lots, Union Station, West Haven Center, etc. This would likely require one or two full time shuttles working from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.  Full scheduling need could not be assessed until people actually start taking advantage of the shuttle service.
5. Provide opportunity to use pre-tax dollars for train or vanpool payments. The only additional cost to UNH would be the administrative costs for implementation.
6. Limit residential parking but provide Zipcar as an alternative, unless students work off campus and cannot get to their workplace by UNH shuttle.  Contact  jennylb@zipcar.com.
7. Purchase sheltered bicycle racks and provide lockers and showers (Beckerman Recreation Center?) for cyclists.
8. Consider additional parking for long term solution.

  

2008 Transportation Survey Results

With the assistance of Alan MacDougal and Gayle Tagliatela, UNH launched a brief survey of the UNH community's needs and interest in commuting alternatives.  With the construction of the new residence hall reducing the already inadequate available parking, the survey's purpose was to educate about commuting alternatives, stimulate interest, and assess alternatives to the number of cars on campus.

During the survey design stage, the organization Rideworks in New Haven was discovered.  Rideworks' sole purpose is to find ways to reduce the congestion on the roadways near New Haven.  At no cost to UNH, a representative at Rideworks has offered to come to UNH to talk with community members and any UNH executives who might be interested in exploring options for carpooling, vanpooling, train service, and telecommuting.  Information for all of these options can be found on the Rideworks website:  www.Rideworks.com. Survey respondents were directed to this site also.

In addition, Zipcar, a private organization that is designed to allow a pool of people to have access to car transportation without each person having to have their own vehicle, has a new program available to universities and colleges.  Zipcar provides one or more vehicles for members of a university to share.  Residential students would be the most likely target market. Each interested person signs a contract and must make a reservation for the car.  That reservation could be made while standing right by the vehicle if no one else has made a reservation for that time period.  There is some initial investment on the part of the university, but Zipcar claims that the cars should pay for themselves and turn a profit for the university within two years.  Zipcar also claims that for every car brought onto a university campus, approximately 14 parking spaces become available. However, time is of the essence to further explore a partnership with Zipcar, as the contract process typically takes four to six weeks.

More partial solutions surface from responses to the survey.  The survey was distributed under the president's signature to all who represent "commuters": staff/faculty including adjuncts (350), incoming students (306), graduate students (563), and retuning undergraduates (677). Up to two reminders were sent to those who had not responded for a final tally of 1,002 respondents of the 2,746 community members who received the survey.  This represents a 36% response rate.

Other than zip code, the first substantive question asked if respondents had an interest in looking at commuting alternatives, and if not, why.  Forty two percent of the respondents (418) did not have an interest in looking at alternatives.  The most important reason given for lack of interest as cited by 234 respondents, surrounded issues of flexibility, living close enough that carpooling did not make economic or time sense, need to get from classes to one's job or vice versa, or the need to drop off or pick up one's children.  The next most common response was that many members of the UNH community attend classes or work unpredictable schedules that would not be amenable to multi-person commuting (65).

Other less frequently cited reasons for lack of interest in looking at alternatives include living too far away to anticipate a reasonable commuting match (9), already walk or take the bus now (8), need to be able to leave in case of an emergency with one's children (6), need car for off-campus meetings (3), and work at South East Campus where the parking does not seem to be an issue. 

It is also worth noting that seven respondents complained about the lack of parking.  As one respondent said, "Commuting is not the problem; parking is!"  One also gets the sense from these responses that we treasure our independence and giving that up, where it is at all possible, will take some extra incentive.

On the brighter side, 58% (584) of the respondents said they would be interested in commuting alternatives.  In fact, 17 of those who said they were not interested in alternatives, were not interested because they already were carpooling. 

A key question asked those who said they would be willing to look at alternatives, specifically what would be of interest.  As one can see in the table that follows, 29.1% said they would be interested in carpooling with incentive.  Another 14.6 % said they would be interested in commuting by train with a UNH shuttle to and from Union Station.  Vanpools were of less interest (1.7%) which could be a function of education about the vanpool system, or a function of distance...most respondents live too close to UNH to take advantage of the vanpool system, which requires a minimum 10 mile commute.  However, 21.1% of the respondents said they would consider any of the alternatives and another 7.9% made their own suggestions.

Q4. Please indicate which options you would consider.  (You may check  www.Rideworks.com for more information on all of these alternatives.)                                                                  

		Frequency	Percent	Cumulative Percent
	No response	150	25.7	25.7
	Carpool with possible preferential parking, depending on UNH community response, plus discounts with local businesses through NuRide	170	29.1	54.8
	other; please explain briefly ->	46	7.9	62.7
	Train service from north (e.g. Hartford), east (Shoreline East) or west (Metro North) with a UNH shuttle that will bring you to and from Union Station. Monthly train passes and parking fees at a train station can be deducted from your pay with PRE-TAX dollars	85	14.6	77.2
	Vanpool from $130-$146/mo. in PRE-TAX dollars, for a round trip commute of 20 or more miles; up to 4 emergency cab rides home a year included, and 3,000 allowable personal miles for the primary driver.	10	1.7	78.9
	Would consider any of the above	123	21.1	100.0
	Total	584	100.0

Among those who made their own suggestions, there were some very worthwhile ones, such as:

• Provide the infrastructure to support commuting by bicycle or motorbike, such as bike racks, availability of showers, lockers for books and personal belongings so the cyclists do not have to cart their belongs around all day. Five of the respondents who were not interested in alternatives to their commute said that they were interested in cycling. The only downside to this alternative is that cyclists will likely use some other form of transportation during bad weather.
• Provide a shuttle from the "Park and Ride" lot off Exit 42. The lot has 39 non-handicap spaces. On a mid-week, mid-summer day, only 14 of those spaces were occupied. (UNH could also consider making arrangements with the owners of parking lots nearby for businesses that have closed, e.g. some businesses on Boston Post Rd. There are at least three such businesses with large parking lots within two miles on the Post Rd. south.)
• Offer a 4-day work week of 9.5 hours/day with different people within a department having different days off.
• Offer telecommuting at least one day a week for those staff members for whom it makes sense.
• Devise an electronic bulletin board for the UNH community to post and find other community members who have commutes from a similar area. Responses to the survey indicate that people's days and times on campus vary widely, but a well constructed bulletin board should allow for commuters to find others with similar rides. The bulletin board may be best if it is structured around semesters and trimesters.
• UNH shuttle bus.
• Offer an incentive/reward for reduction in use of parking spaces, but respondents are quick to point out that the reward should be meaningful, e.g. a discount at the school store or a tuition discount.

Specific comments that are relevant to the various commuting options include:

Carpooling:

• "Have a forum or meeting-type for commuters to be able to network. I like the idea of carpooling, but I want to know the people I would be driving or being driven by."*(See discussion about Rideworks below.)
• "...I would like a list of others in my area who would be interested in ride sharing.
• "I registered on NuRide since it was first suggested and I haven't been matched with anyone from UNH. I am interested in carpooling with other faculty/staff members, even if it is only a few days a week. Maybe you could set up a travel board online."
• "(Carpooling) may cut down on frustration knowing that if your carpooling (to UNH) there would be a designated parking area for the carpoolers...no need to worry about finding a parking space."
• "If I knew who lived in my area or even on my way to UNH I would be more than willing to carpool."

Vanpooling:

• "I feel more comfortable with a train service and shuttle with pre-tax dollars or a vanpool."
• "Add special parking spots for rideshare vans & 3+ commuter groups."

Train:

• "I am concerned about the timing of the commute from the train station to campus. I have an 8:00 am class and I am worried that I will not make it on time."
• "I am strongly in favor of shoreline rail."
• "I think shuttle service to the train would be ideal!"
• "I would do the train service, but UNH really needs to know that there is not enough parking for the commuters. (Resident) students...park in the commuters' parking lots and the police on campus know, and some police that I talk to say they do not give out tickets to resident students."
• "Train service would be great."
• "I like the train and shuttle idea the best as long as service runs late enough to accommodate a 7 pm return time to eastern shoreline."
• "I often teach evening classes, so in order for this to work for me, would need a bus shuttle going to the train station till 9:30."

Shuttle:

• "I am interested in a shuttle from the Sawmill building (EDUC) to main campus as well."
• "I would like to get picked up for school in the morning without the cost."
• "Local shuttle through West Haven with convenient stops."
• "Would be willing to park down the street and take a shuttle bus to school."
• "Add shuttle service to parking lot further away from campus (8:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.)
• "Bus service would be a possibility. You should limit cars to upper classmen and commuters only. For those living off campus in nearby neighborhoods, offer a shuttle bus so commuters who live far away can park."
• As for public busses, some people use them but a few respondents voiced concerns about the safety of some public transportation options.
• "Have a UNH shuttle pick up from downtown West Haven (the Green) to the school so that everyone that lives down there doesn't have to worry about parking for their night classes."
• "In addition to the train stations, consider running a commuter van out from other commuter parking lots (i.e. Orange, Rt 34, etc.)"

Bicycles:

• "None of the options appeal to me since I live only two miles away. I would walk or bike if there were sidewalks and bike lockers."
• "Add bike racks for those of us wishing to bike/ride. Add bike racks to shuttles (mount in front or back.)"

Telecommuting:

• "...with many of my responsibilities being done by computer, telecommuting one day a week might not only help out with gas but also with the parking on campus."
• "Telecommuting is a much better option. With webcams and chat, it should be easy to free up a larger than you might think number of employees at least one day a week."

Public Transportation:

• "Please work with CT Transit or whoever necessary to make the bus stops more accommodating. E.g. the B stop on Campbell across from Dodds Hal is fine, but I know many people who would feel uncomfortable waiting at night for the bus."
• "Safety" concerns were mentioned by additional respondents when considering public bus transportation.

Comments about Parking:

• "It's not about the congestion, it's about how there is NO parking at the school for the commuting students. Since, now we are upgrading our school and taking up what use to be commuter spots, we need to build a lot for commuters, such as a parking garage."
• "The easiest thing you could do is simply to stop taking away parking spaces."
• "Build a secure parking garage in the big empty parking lot across the street from New Hall. Blackboard has a system that you swipe your card to control a gate that protects the parking lot. Quinnipiac has it. This campus has no secure parking my car was broken into here."
• "Have priority parking for commuters and more of it!!!"
• "Stop worrying about transportation! There is no need to worry about traveling to the University if there is nowhere to park. Use the money for these surveys and transportation ideas and build a parking garage like every other college/university."

UNH may need to employ as many of the options listed above as possible because many respondents, particularly day and evening commuting students, made it clear that they were disgruntled with their inability to find parking during the 2007-2008 academic year.  Tackling the parking situation using as many strategies as possible for the coming year would go a long way toward improving "customer relations". 

For most options to alleviate the tight parking situation on campus for the 2008-2009 academic year, require full-time UNH shuttle service as part of the solution.  At least a limited schedule may be needed both early, e.g. from 7:30 a.m., and late, e.g. to 9:30 p.m.  Some may require additional security monitoring, or modest investment, such as bicycle racks or special parking lot gates for carpoolers.

Whether the combined impact of the multiple approaches can avoid the necessity of constructing additional parking in the future remains to be seen.  Minimally, the suggested steps should ease the strain on parking for this coming academic year.