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University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Parking is in short supply at UNC–Chapel Hill and will soon become more scarce. Ten years from now the University anticipates having 5.9 million square feet of new space, 8,000 new students and employees, and only 1,500 new parking spaces, mostly for visitors and hospital patients. A newly created position of Transportation Demand Manager was filled in
September 2001. Starting in January 2002, all buses in the Chapel Hill Transit system will become fare-free. A student referendum during the prior academic year authorized a fee increase to cover a portion of the incremental cost. The university and the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro will fund the remainder. Three new bus routes will be added to the system, and the distance covered by the University shuttle will increase. A free point-to-point service is available on campus at night and to those with physical disabilities throughout the day. Expanded park and ride lots are also being planned. Improving safe bicycle and pedestrian access to the university is a recognized need. Unsafe routes along major thoroughfares are not an acceptable option. The 50-year campus master plan calls for leveling out the steep pedestrian corridors on south campus. A multistory parking deck with a green roof will make one such corridor ADA compliant. The number of evening and weekend cyclists in the Triangle indicates many potential bicycle commuters. Safe paths and storage facilities, protected from weather and theft, are essential components. Some bikers that live too far to commute the entire distance, have expressed interest in riding from a park and ride lot to campus. With the eleventh worst air pollution in the country and congested roads, improved mass transit in the region is overdue. Several dozen vehicles in the campus motor fleet have flexible fuel capability, but there is currently no local ethanol fueling station. Despite two unsuccessful grant applications, design work on a campus pump continues. Contact: Mary Beth Powell | |
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