UA overhauling transportation plan

1st study since ’05 targets Fayetteville campus’s projected enrollment of 28,000

FAYETTEVILLE -- With a $250,000 budget, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville is putting together a comprehensive transportation plan for an increasingly crowded campus.

It's the first such UA study since a 2005 plan, but student enrollment has increased by about 9,000 students compared with 10 years ago.

"You just look at the region, in 10 years you know that the original study has some problems with still being valid and relevant," said Mike Johnson, UA's associate vice chancellor for facilities, adding that the university's goal is to have the new study completed by the end of June.

He called the number of cars on campus a challenge that's accompanied growth in enrollment. The university had 26,237 students, according to its most recent count in the fall of 2014.

In assessing parking needs, "we're going to look at demand at the targeted student enrollment of 28,000 that we're going to reach in the next couple of years," Johnson said.

About 13,600 parking spaces exist on campus. Johnson said UA is considering putting a parking structure at the northeast corner of the main campus in the area north of West Maple Street and bounded by North Gregg Avenue, Witham Avenue and West Douglas Street.

But Gary Smith, UA's director of parking and transit, said recent surveys of parking spaces done in conjunction with the ongoing study have found 4,000 available spaces during the daily peak hours of campus activity.

He said the university plans to roll out a smartphone app to help guide drivers to campus lots where

FAYETTEVILLE -- With a $250,000 budget, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville is putting together a comprehensive transportation plan for an increasingly crowded campus.

It's the first such UA study since a 2005 plan, but student enrollment has increased by about 9,000 students compared with 10 years ago.

"You just look at the region, in 10 years you know that the original study has some problems with still being valid and relevant," said Mike Johnson, UA's associate vice chancellor for facilities, adding that the university's goal is to have the new study completed by the end of June.

He called the number of cars on campus a challenge that's accompanied growth in enrollment. The university had 26,237 students, according to its most recent count in the fall of 2014.

In assessing parking needs, "we're going to look at demand at the targeted student enrollment of 28,000 that we're going to reach in the next couple of years," Johnson said.

About 13,600 parking spaces exist on campus. Johnson said UA is considering putting a parking structure at the northeast corner of the main campus in the area north of West Maple Street and bounded by North Gregg Avenue, Witham Avenue and West Douglas Street.

But Gary Smith, UA's director of parking and transit, said recent surveys of parking spaces done in conjunction with the ongoing study have found 4,000 available spaces during the daily peak hours of campus activity.

He said the university plans to roll out a smartphone app to help guide drivers to campus lots where spaces can typically be found. The app will rely on historical data and parking trends rather than sensor information about individual spaces, Smith said.

Overall, the comprehensive study "will look at demand, it will look at current spaces, it will look at student body commuting and transit," Johnson said, adding that the university is concerned about greenhouse-gas emissions associated with commuting, as well as safety.

The university is paying $224,880 to a consultant, Boston-based NelsonNygaard, for help with the plan, and the group has worked to develop an online survey filled out by more than 3,000 people, according to the university.

Today is the last day to complete the survey, which allows participants to note on a map specific concerns about an intersection or bus stop, as well as bicycle and pedestrian improvements they'd like to see.

Smith said the consultants will also visit the campus in about a month to conduct public meetings and answer questions about transportation planning.

In addition to the survey, Johnson said his department is using registration data from students and addresses on file for workers to better understand how far people are traveling to reach the university.

"We're geocoding everybody on campus," Johnson said, describing how UA's Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies is helping planners to plot the data using geographical information system technology. Johnson emphasized that the data project does not identify people by name.

Smith said the university originally planned to develop the transportation plan at the same time as the city of Fayetteville. But instead, with a city effort delayed, Smith said UA's consultant has met with city officials, as well as regional planners.

The study will also look at costs associated with implementing changes. Students now pay a transit fee of $2.65 per credit hour of enrollment, which works out to $39.75 per semester for a student taking a common load of 15 credit hours.

"We've asked them to look at that, what should an appropriate fee be," Smith said. The money helps fund Razorback Transit, the free bus system that has a yearly budget of about $3.7 million, including roughly $1 million in federal grant funding.

At the Arkansas Union, worker Bill Fight said he rides a scooter onto campus. He said he can find a space in an area without clearly marked lines for individual scooters and that it can become crowded enough that he has damaged his scooter trying to pull away.

"Scooter parking needs to be refined. They need more of it," Fight said.

Told of Fight's concerns, Smith said the mostly unlined parking areas were originally requested by scooter users as a way to maximize the use of space, but that recently the university is moving to stripe the areas.

Basanta Wagle, a graduate student studying poultry science, walked into the Arkansas Union after riding the bus in for class. He said that while there are enough spaces for riders, he'd like to see buses run with enough frequency that he could go home for lunch to save money.

Laura Wagner, a higher-education graduate student, said she uses the bus and never bothered to purchase a parking permit, adding that she's been able to find spaces after 5 p.m. when she wants to drive to campus.

But Smith said that beginning July 1, free parking without a permit in "core campus lots" will be available only after 8 p.m., a change recommended by UA's Transit and Parking Committee.

Metro on 01/30/2015

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