Tuesday, 18 December, 2012
Dear President Deane,
Transportation for Livable
Communities (TLC) Hamilton is very interested in the potential for McMaster
University to institute a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) scheme to
address university parking issues.
A TDM policy would address
future growth scenarios on campus by taking an integrated approach to reducing
parking demand. Freeing-up space for new buildings and reducing traffic-related
problems by enhancing transit, cycling and pedestrian environments will be a
net benefit for the campus, the surrounding neighbourhoods and the city
transportation network in general. These goals align with municipal and
provincial policy guidelines like Hamilton’s Transportation Master Plan and
Ontario’s Places To Grow, and as we will see, McMaster’s own planning
documents.
For at least a dozen years,
McMaster’s administration has been encouraged to institute measures related to
TDM, starting with McMaster’s “Balanced Transportation Strategy” in 2000.
McMaster’s Campus Master Plan (2002, updated 2008) recommends an 18 point TDM
strategy, McMaster University’s Sustainable Policy speaks to the issue of
transportation, McMaster Masters student Jessica S. Becker’s thesis,
"Understanding Commuting Decisions: a case study of student and staff at
McMaster University" 2007, made recommendations regarding TDM.
Overall, it seems that while
McMaster has instituted some of the recommendations, there are many that have
not been implemented, like the faculty and staff bus pass[i].
Winning a “Smart Commute Hamilton Employer of the Year” from Metrolinx is an
indication of movement in the right direction, but we feel McMaster needs to do
more. It appears to us that the parking issue is not being managed in a way
conceived of by the university’s consultants, i.e. as part of a comprehensive
TDM strategy. Instead, the Parking Office in 2012 appears to manage current
parking with an eye to keeping as much parking space as possible[ii].
This despite the University's Campus Master Plan’s mandate to provide “’less than
average’ parking facilities.” [iii] Yet with a
different emphasis, toward sustainability, the Parking Office could just as
well reorganize to institute a TDM.
Research indicates that “many universities and colleges have found that
it can be less expensive to accommodate travel in modes other than the
single-occupant vehicle.[iv]” The same
researchers helpfully suggest,
“[taking] a comprehensive look at parking and transportation together,
comparing their costs per trip accommodated and their resulting traffic
impacts. Rather than: How much parking is required? The question then becomes a
far wider one: What is the optimum mix of new parking and investment in
alternative means of travel to meet an institution’s transportation needs and
contribute to wider institution and community goals?[v]”
Modal splits advertised on
the Sustainability Office web page reveal room for improvement, especially
along the staff and faculty side of parking, with 65 percent of staff and
faculty choosing to drive compared to 24 percent of students, and according to
another study, over 1/3 of staff are parking permit holders living within 5k of
campus[vi],
a distance considered optimal for alternative modes of transportation.
Whatever the actual methods
to achieve lower parking demand, TLC believes McMaster has a responsibility to
make the shift toward sustainability with regard to parking. Fortunately
McMaster has some guiding principles to refer to as we move forward. The Talloires Declaration, the
Campus Master Plan, Forward with Integrity, along with the Sustainability
Office mission all apply, even Facility Services[vii]
has a mission in line with this vision.
We would like to point out
that other universities have successfully applied TDM strategies with measurable
positive results: Cornell University increased
parking prices for a 26 percent reduction in demand; University of Colorado
Boulder’s faculty/staff bus program frees up 350 parking spaces; and Stanford University
instituted transportation strategies to maintain trip levels constant in the
face of campus growth[viii]. The University of British Columbia created a
Strategic Transportation Plan (STP) in 1999 and renewed it in 2005. They were influential
in initiating a class time shift to reduce the transportation demand, investing
in cycling infrastructure and creating the U-Pass program, which has been
adopted by other Canadian universities, McMaster included. Over the past
thirteen years they have met or surpassed their goals and are in the process of
updating their STP.
McMaster is fortunate to have relevant expertise on campus for such a project
through the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MITL).
With these things in mind, TLC requests the following of McMaster
University:
Mandate the Parking Office to implement a TDM
strategy with stated goals and objectives, through discussions and work with stakeholders such as MITL, TLC, and other relevant
departments and agencies.
We would appreciate an
opportunity to hear what McMaster University is planning in regard to the
issues we’ve raised, in the interest of moving forward together on these long-outstanding
issues.
Thank you on behalf of TLC,
Reuven Dukas and Randy Kay
tlchamilton@gmail.com
tlchamilton.org
