The Future of Parking and Transportation at Vanderbilt
Tracy Owens, Assistant Director of Parking Services and Eric Kopstain, Vice Chancellor for Administration addressed USAC at its August meeting to discuss the future of parking and transportation at Vanderbilt.
Parking Services provides parking on campus, train tickets, RTA tickets and Vandy Vans evening student shuttle service. In the future, it wants to provide a 24/7 campus shuttle service, support for biking systems and establish relationships with Uber, Lyft and other transportation groups. Parking Services is also working towards facilitating more cost efficient parking to support alternative work arrangements. This may benefit Vanderbilt community members who work from home or only work 2-3 days per week.
Currently, Parking Services is in the submission phase for the CMAQ grant. This grant helps transportation programs pay for shuttles and reduce vehicle emissions. If awarded, this grant would help sustain and build a transportation program that would benefit the Vanderbilt community.
There are currently 22,000 parking spots which cover over 82 acres of land at Vanderbilt. This equates to 25% of land usage dedicated to parking on campus. The administration would like to solve this discrepancy with the University’s Land Use Planning Initiative (FutureVU) and wants to provide additional ways to get to campus and more reliable parking utilization methods.
There are currently 22,000 parking spots which cover over 82 acres of land at Vanderbilt
Parking Services has analyzed where Vanderbilt community members live and realize that some of the most vulnerable workers have the longest commute to work due to the increasing cost of real estate close to campus. They are very interested in eliminating issues of transportation and connectivity and in strategically connecting various neighborhoods to Vanderbilt. A new form of governance, “Vanderbilt Mobility,” will be created to continue data collection and implement new solutions. Many transportation initiatives will be addressed including:
- Creating additional pedestrian bridges
- Converting 25th avenue into a complete street
- Improving crossings at major roads around the campus (including Grand Ave)
- Flex parking
- Lower costs for VanStar
- Premier parking for ride share vehicles
- Enhanced marketing to encourage shuttle use
More information about Vanderbilt Parking and Transportation
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