University Assembly Transportation Advisory Committee

Transportation Advisory Committee
Minutes from Monday, March 27, 2006
11:30 AM � 12:45 PM, 316 Day Hall (Day Hall Boardroom)

Present: Jim Gibbs, Sara Gomez-Ibanez, Peter Hoyt, Marisa LaFalce, Yael Levitte, Tim McConnochie

Also present: Judy Eckard, Jonathan Feldman, David Lieb, Helen Steh

Excused: Arnim Meyburg and Paul Streeter

J. Feldman called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.

t-GEIS Survey

D. Lieb said that the t-GEIS survey is in its final draft form and has been sent to the Committee on Human Subjects. All of the GPSA recommendations were taken; the Student Assembly did not add anything. The Survey Research Institute (SRI) will code it. It is scheduled for distribution on April 17, 2006 with two weeks for responses. It will be sent to statistically significant samples of each undergrad class, faculty and staff, and to all grad/professional students (at the GPSA�s request). Participation incentives: each major group will be eligible for a $500 gift certificate to a bike store; faculty and staff will be eligible for two round-trip reservations on the Campus to Campus Executive Coach; and undergrads will be eligible for two I Pods.

Email cover letters will be sent to students from Susan Murphy; to staff from Mary Opperman; and to faculty from Charles Walcott. There will be a follow-up reminder email. The SRI will do the data processing and the t-GEIS team will analysis the data.

T. McConnochie asked when and how the data will be released. D. Lieb said they haven�t even thought about it yet. T. McConnochie said he would like to see �undigested� data.

Car-Sharing

D. Lieb reported that the car-share committee (about 15–20 in number) continues to meet. �Interface� provides the facilitation (from Community Dispute Resolution Center). The committee as a whole is the planning committee. The sub-committees are: finance, funding, operations, market analysis, communications and outreach. The chairs of the sub-committees along with the president and the secretary sit on a steering committee.

David Lieb President
Shane Stennes Secretary/Treasurer
Fernando de Aragon Market Analysis
Stephanie Greenwood Communications and Outreach
Granger Macy Operations
Marian Brown Funding
Evelyn Wilson Finance

J. Gibbs asked if this car-share program will happen in the next year. D. Lieb replied yes, he thinks it can. He noted that this is a temporary governance structure. They will be working on a vision and setting goals. It could be a:

• for profit (local)
• for profit (vendor)
• non-profit (local)
• co-op local

Meetings are held at 6:00 PM on Wednesdays, every two weeks. They have been held at the old Court House on Tioga Street, and the Borg Warner Room at the Tompkins County Library.

Y. Levitte asked how they will decide on the governance model. D. Lieb said it will depend on what the vision and goals are. Y. Levitte asked if TCAT is involved. D. Lieb said that Wendy Skinner, the TCAT marketing person is attending meetings.

Summer Construction

D. Lieb reviewed a copy of a newsletter that is going out this week to everyone. J. Feldman asked how much money is being spent on the project. J. Gibbs said that not all are road projects; he noted that the growth of campus square footage will rival that of the 1950s.

D. Lieb noted that Transportation will strive to keep 50% to 75% of the garage open during construction and hope to get it finished by September 2006. J. Gibbs said that the additional floor is not put together like the others � it will be more rigid and able to sustain earthquakes.

M. LaFalce said that parking garages are expensive and asked if the cost is being built into the cost of the building, e.g. MVR, Milstein.

Y. Levitte asked who is using the University Avenue lot. J. Gibbs said that its contractor parking. H. Steh said we hope to be able to park people there in 2008. J. Gibbs noted that Mina Amundsen (university planner) leads the university master planning process and should meet with TAC (this process is just getting underway).

There were questions around who gets central campus permits. H. Steh noted that tenured faculty and high level staff, at the request of the college, are given central campus permits. She also noted that Transportation sells permits on a permit-to-space ratio.

T. McConnochie said that some students wonder why B Lot parking has empty spaces � if so why not lower the price. D. Lieb said that the goal is to have some vacant spaces for flexibility for visitors, conferences, etc.

Permit Changes

D. Lieb said there is one significant change: K along Campus Road (past the Crescent) will change to C in order to accommodate lost parking at Lynah, Teagle, and the Garage. The X parking to the south west of Boyce Thomas Institute (BTI) as well as the lot behind BTI at the corner of Tower Road and Campus Road will be changed to K. Student K after 2:30 PM will be changed to C after 2:30 PM (this is for student athletes who return to campus at night). D. Lieb noted that the price increase to permits will be equal to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) 3.4% (last year it was 3.3%). This has been the policy for the past five years. Student parking is at the Tier 5 rate.

H. Steh said that continuing grad/professional students are given priority for C. New and continuing grad/professional students are given priority for K.

Other Concerns

S. Gomez-Ibanez said that the Vet School students are still grumpy about the prices. They are not given an on-campus housing option and have to be on campus early and often stay late. They don�t have the choice, but must drive to campus. P. Hoyt said that it sounds like there is a case for Vet students. Y. Levitte agreed and said S. Gomez-Ibanez needs to collect data and present a case. S. Gomez-Ibanez said that she will do the background work if she won�t hit a brick wall (like last year). There are around 300 students. H. Steh asked where do you draw the line. There are others who work in labs. M. LaFalce said she doesn�t know why Vet students are not entitled to campus housing. She would look into it. T. McConnochie noted that off-campus housing is cheaper. He also said that he has information on Vet student parking behavior. D. Lieb said that the main argument is that the program requires Vet students to have a car � then they need to talk to the college. H. Steh noted that in order for a department to pay for a permit you must be required to use your vehicles on the job. P. Hoyt asked what the college could do. J. Gibbs said that they could subsidize the rate, or purchase parking spaces.

Cornell�s TCAT Board of Directors members will be present at the April meeting. The TCAT General Manager as well as the Operations Manager will also attend. Questions for TCAT are due to J. Feldman by April 3, 2006. He will compile them and send them back to the committee by April 10, 2006.

The next TAC meeting has been scheduled for Monday, April 24, 2006 at 11:30 AM and will be held in 316 Day Hall (Day Hall Boardroom).