University of Georgia Staff Council
Minutes
of the September 4, 2002 Staff Council Meeting
Law School,
Room C
Staff Council President, Tony Hughey, called the meeting to order at 2:00 pm.
We had five guest speakers: Judy Dudley, Assistant Director of Athens Transit; Jason Henderson of BikeAthens; Danny Sniff, Director of Facilities Planning Office; Ron Hamlin, Manager of Campus Transit; and Joyce Hardman, Department Manager of Auxilliary Services Division.
Due to the number of guest speakers and the length of the question and answer period, the only business conducted at this month’s meeting was assigning Staff Council members to committees at the end of the meeting. The committee assignments were as follows:
Needs and Concerns
- Lucy Brooks
- Tonya Carter
- William Childs
- Brian Davis
- Tommy McCommons
- Bob Ratajczak
- Sally Vandiver
Health and Safety
- Ben Bonner
- Stephanie Borrett
- Vici Decker
- Tom Kopp
- Sandra McPeake
- Frank Patman
Communications
- Wayne Middlesteadt
- Maureen Hetrick
- David Jennings
- Bonnie Norwood
- Danna Williams
Pay and Classification
- Robyn Ansley
- Rusty Drew
- Barbara Galvond
- Leslie Mason
- Kim Wheeler
Legislative
- Nelda Parker
- Paul Rose
- Patricia Smith
- Toni Stone
- Paul Totis
Statewide
- Tony Hughey
- Margot Peter
UGARA
- Kathy Hines
University Council Committees
Strategic Planning
- Brenda Keen
Executive Committee
- Tony Hughey
Libraries
- Laura Alfonso
Student Affairs
- Tameka Allison
Facilities
- Georgia Moore
Parking Appeals
- Donna Huber
Following is a synopsis of the speakers’ speeches. The question and answer period was held after everyone had finished speaking.
Judy Dudley, Assistant Director for Athens Transit, was our first speaker. She wanted to make us aware of the options offered by Athens Transit and to show us their web site that can be found at http://www.athenstransit.com. Included on their web site are links to the routes/schedules, services, and UGA park and ride areas. Check the web site frequently to keep abreast of changes that are occurring. She also showed a television commercial being aired on local stations. Judy stated that ridership increased 110% last year. The primary function of Athens Transit is to provide service to the community. Student ridership decreased when UGA converted from the quarter system to the semester system resulting in loss of revenue. This resulted in Athens Transit contacting Parking Services about distributing a survey to UGA staff to determine if they would be interested in utilizing this public transportation. The survey showed that 83% of respondents drive alone to work and they drive 15 to 30 minutes to get to work. Their biggest concern in riding the bus was the perceived commute time. Thirty-eight percent said they would ride if the frequency of bus service was increased at the bus stop closest to their house, or if the commute time was shorter. With this information, Athens Transit realized that plans would have to be developed, communication systems needed to be better for promotion purposes, and they would have to have help to accomplish their goals. They knew they would have to have park and ride lots because a lot of UGA staff don’t live in Clarke County and don’t have access to public transportation. Trip time would have to be reduced to within 15 to 20 minutes and serve lots every 20 minutes. Information would have to be distributed to as many locations as possible. Training people to use the buses had to be ongoing because students and employees were constantly added/replace. Projections for ridership indicate a dramatic increase over last year, especially with the new UGA parking plan in place. New contracts were negotiated that would allow UGA staff to ride Athens Transit buses using their staff ID, as students had been allowed to do in past years. The benefits of the UGA parking plan, and using public transportation have been a reduction in traffic and air quality improvement. This should help delay Athens-Clarke County being added to Georgia’s list of most polluted cities.
Our next speaker was Jason Henderson of BikeAthens, which is advocacy organization here in Athens and a registered organization with the UGA Student Affairs office. Their web site is located at . Most of their members are automobile drivers who seek transportation alternatives. The problem with the UGA campus and downtown Athens is trying to move 30,000 to 35,000 cars per day on narrow, two to four lane streets. To maintain the character of Athens, alternative ways of moving people around must be found. According to a report from the United States Department of Transportation, 30% of every urban area in the United States is dedicated to roads. Another 20% is dedicated to parking areas. This amounts to 50% of the urban land area is to either move or store automobiles. The automobile consumes more space than the average worker’s office. The difficulty in promoting biking and walking in the Athens area and the southeast is because of the danger faced from automobiles on busy streets, such as College Station Road. A huge segment of faculty, staff and students live on the east side within 2 or 3 miles of campus. A problem encountered with riding the bus, is the danger involved in walking to the bus stops. Forty-nine percent of all the travel we do in Athens is less than 3 miles. Forty percent of all the travel is less than 2 miles. Twenty-eight percent of the travel we do is less than a mile. While understanding that a lot of the people attending and working at UGA live too far out to bike or walk to work, a lot of people that drive alone to UGA live within a 2 to 3 mile radius. Our approach is to improve the conditions to provide a transportation choice. If you make Prince Avenue, for example, a multi-use road - a safe road to cycle, a safe road to cross as a pedestrian - it actually improves the conditions for drivers because there are less people driving and parking. More people in the 2 or3 mile radius are choosing not to drive. Inexpensive improvements could be made around town that would make it possible for 15% of the population. Many people would like to cycle but are afraid to due to traffic hazards. Another issue of concern to would-be bikers, is having a safe, secure place to park their bikes. BikeAthens has been involved with the Steering Committee to develop the rail bed going toward Winterville that parallels Lexington Road, which is the heaviest part of traffic at certain parts of the day. That rail bed could be inexpensively converted into a bike trail, giving bikers a safe way to get to work. In conclusion, it is important to understand that UGA has a certain quality and character about it that no one wants to disturb. We can invest in bike lanes, better sidewalks, more pedestrian crossings, better transit and other innovative things such as more businesses delivering food to offices on campus. Jason’s hope is that this will get you thinking about alternative transportation.
Danny Sniff, Director of the Facilities Planning Office, helped develop the Master Plan 5 years ago working with faculty, staff and students. The Facilities Planning Office is on the cusp of the 5-year anniversary when the Master Plan will be updated. They will take all the lessons they have learned in the last 5 years to make these updates. One thing he doesn’t see changing is the guiding principles, but certain things have changed. The reason for working closely together is if transportation, congestion, and parking problems can’t be solved, they will have trouble implementing the Master Plan as it is designed. So it is important to know what is going on with the buses, bikes and other modes of transportation. The part of the Master Plan he focused on was the alternative transportation and how to implement getting students to live on campus, to reduce the congestion on campus, how to beautify the campus and how to make it a more walking-friendly space. The guiding principles are creating the optimal student environment, preserving the character of north campus, developing a connected campus, providing the time for current uses of facilities, providing for academic and student needs and stopping the urban sprawl. To protect and enhance the natural environment, to develop a comprehensive solution to traffic, parking and infrastructure, to participate in coordinating and preparing the organizational plan. There is approximately 12,000 square feet of land taken up by buildings, auditoriums and parking decks. They went to departments on campus and asked them how they were going to grow and what are you going to grow. About 19% of the student population lives on campus until around the sophomore year, when they start moving out into the community. This is due in part to the lack of developing more dormitory space and residences halls. Starting in the Spring, they will be building 1,200 new dormitories on east campus to meet the quality of the students’ demands and their needs. They are going to build more parking decks where there are asphalt parking lots. The first one to be built is the North Campus deck to replace 125 parking spots that were lost when Herty was turned into a green space. The goal is to make a green space from North to South campus to make it a more pedestrian-friendly campus, and people can move around the core using alternative transportation and still be able to rotate on the exterior perimeter. This is how the Master Plan is looking over the next few years. Another highly visible project is D. W. Brooks Drive that is being turned into green space over the next 4 years at a cost of $4 million dollars. About 80 to 90% of this is for infrastructure upgrades - sanitary sewers, storm drains, data and communication lines, and the electrical. Everything servicing the buildings along this corridor has been maxed out, so there’s really no expansion possibilities on east campus. So, they are taking the opportunity to increase infrastructure capabilities for current buildings as well as for future buildings. So that, in the future, streets won’t have to be torn up to add utilities. This green space, when completed, will run from Conner Hall all the way down D. W. Brooks Drive. By December, Pharmacy all the way down to the intersection of Baldwin Street will be green space. In the next fiscal year, they will convert the center of the green space from Dance to Hardman Hall. Then in the final year, they will move up toward Barrow Hall. When parking lots are displaced, people will have to park further away but they will try to give back to Parking Services on a one-to-one ratio. What people get in return for losing parking close to the buildings is a quality walk and space to have a quality lunch. An architect has been selected for the Lamar Dodd School of Art and construction is planned for the upcoming summer, in addition to the new dormitories. Eventually, the road network around east campus parking deck and the Ramsey Center will be taken out and the only way to get in and out will be a perimeter road that will go behind the Ramsey Center. Bike lanes have been started on College Station. The greenways trail is about half way complete. Other bike lanes will be added over the years. The goal is to convert 75 acres of the 150 paved acres to green space, parking decks and future building. This alleviates having to buy up more land for UGA expansion.
Ron Hamlin, Manager of Campus Transit, was the next speaker. He reported that the first week of fall semester, campus buses carried an average of 51,500 people per day peaking out at 54,000 to 55,000 a day. Some routes averaged 114 to 120% capacity. The Milledge route increased about 50%. They anticipate an increase in ridership due to the new parking plan. Rivers Crossing, which was averaging 12 passengers a day over the last few years, is averaging about 160 to 170 passengers a day.
Question: Are the bus schedules set or are they going to change due to construction on campus?
Ron: All of the road construction is mostly done, except behind the Stadium and around the Ramsey Center, so the schedules are pretty much set. Check the Campus Transit web site for detours and delays before boarding a bus.
Question: What are bus drivers’ instructions as far as crosswalks?
Ron: They are instructed to stop.
Question: Are there any plans to convert from diesel to fossil fuels?
Ron: Not currently. This has been discussed a lot in the last 8 to 10 years. The cost of converting buses and the fueling station and the cost of fuel being more, has prohibited this.
Question: Are there any plans to add new buses to relieve the overcrowding caused by the new parking plan.
Ron: Modifications to the routes/times have been made for Fall Semester, which is the extent of Campus Transit’s capabilities at this time.
It was suggested by an audience member that Athens Transit buses aren’t as crowded as the UGA buses, so they could be used as an alternative.
Question: When parking spaces are taken away, where are these being relocated to in order to maintain the one-to-one ratio Facilities Planning has promised?
Danny: Some of them will come from buildings being torn down and parking spaces being put in, and from future parking decks. At this time Facilities Planning owes 100 spaces to Parking Services.
Statement: It appears that the green space on D.W. Brooks drive has been added to aid the Athletics Association in giving Alumni a place to tail-gate during football season.
Danny: That was not a consideration. The green space plan was added for students, faculty and staff to have somewhere to go outside and enjoy and recreate. As a matter of fact, putting in green space on D.W. Brooks drive hurt the Athletic Association because that is where they usually shuttle their VIPs. Football does not drive the decisions on campus.
Question: In this time of budget cuts and hiring freezes, how do you justify spending $4 million dollars on green space and where does the money come from?
Danny: The budgets for infrastructure projects are on a separate category. You can’t take infrastructure or capital project money and put it into salaries. The money is appropriated by the Legislature to help support the expansion of higher education. The infrastructure upgrade on D.W. Brooks Drive is being taken out of Plant Fund Reserve dollars.
Question: What kind of plan is set up for service vehicles to get to the buildings in the center of campus when the green space is completed?
Danny: Service courts are planned and designed in isolated areas for this purpose.
Question: Are the service courts being added into the green space or are they in areas that already exist?
Danny: There are a couple of different places to look at where these service courts could be added. We will probably take some away from green space and some away from existing parking areas.
Statement: About the money you said you had for building projects that couldn’t be used for employee salaries, local contractors are hired for these jobs so you are paying for their employees.
Danny: You’re right. It’s very deceiving. We do help the Athens economy by the tune of about $1 billion dollars a year. Local contractors are hired for construction projects, with the exception of high profile contracts such as the Student Learning Center, for which local contractors often can’t bond or build. Physical Plant is used for any projects which they have the capacity to do.
Physical Plant Manager: Physical Plant only does maintenance. We can’t have all our workers building one building instead of repairing broken windows, doors and air conditioning.
Our final speaker was Joyce Hardman, Department Manager of Auxillary Services. She stated that traffic for the start of Fall Semester was the best she had seen in the five years she has been here. At the beginning, there were 4,000 students who did not have an assigned parking space. Auxillary Services was really panicked. However, it forced people to use alternative methods of transportation. Although these alternative transportation methods may not be utilized as heavily later on, at least people have tried them. There are currently 1,500 people who are signed up for the carpool incentive program. There are about 150 bikers, 70 pedestrians, and a couple of hundred who have committed to riding the bus. Some of these also use more than one mode of transportation. They are trying to provide parking for everyone who wants to drive to campus, which in many cases means putting them in a parking deck. A lot of people turned that down. The majority of people without parking permits now are undergraduate commuters. They are trying to get Family Housing residents in parking lots instead of on the street. Again, some of them turned that down. When the parking system was first run, there were 1,500 to 2,000 spaces empty every day. The number of parking permits were increased by 1,700 on the next run. But only 300 or 400 new customers were added because they didn’t get offered the areas they wanted. There is a chance of getting the lot you want each time the system is run. They are still being on the conservative side when issuing permits, so there may still be empty lots. Every lot should have about 10% of their spaces empty.
Question: What about the carpool incentives? Where are they?
Joyce: Because every thing was new and time-consuming, everything came down to the last minute. Ever since the 16th of August, Parking Services has been overwhelmed with emails, phone calls, and customers in the office. The carpool incentive packets are there now ready to be picked up or sent campus mail.
Question: What about parking for the Ramsey Center?
Joyce: They are validating for their paying customers. They have ordered a pay station for the East deck so that you will have a ticket for the Center to validate. You will have a temporary permit for your car which will be difficult to copy until the pay station is installed. It will be on the honor system.
Question: What is the deal with the new parking permits for State vehicles and what are the guidelines? Will all State vehicles have to pay for parking? Buses? Police cars?
Joyce: The Police Force provides a service to Auxillary Services free of charge in that they monitor and patrol the decks so we don’t have to hire someone to do that. So, they typically have not had to pay. State vehicles not needing access to gated lots will be asked to register, so they can be identified. They are given decals for the windshield. Departments with more than one vehicle are asked to park the extra vehicles elsewhere to free up space on campus. The Athletic Association has started storing their vans at the softball complex. State vehicles needing access to gated lots are issued hang tags.
Question: Will Physical Plant employees be ticketed for parking on the grass and sidewalks?
Joyce: There are State vehicle spaces in most areas where you can park. If you have to park on the grass or sidewalk to unload materials or tools, do so and then move the vehicle to a space allocated for State vehicles.
Question: What about people from the community who come to campus to volunteer for departmental projects or to visit a department?
Joyce: For the parking deck, departments will be allowed to give out validation passes for which the department pays.
Question: Can we assume there will always be spaces in the deck to park?
Joyce: Yes.
Question: What do you do if you want to become more involved in BikeAthens?
Jason: You can go to our web site and join our listserv, and we have quarterly meetings. We have nightly rides at 6 pm starting at College square to help novice bikers feel more comfortable about riding bicycles in the street. We also have Tour de Sprawl, which is an educational event, on October 5th . The web site has all kinds of links; to the county commission, for example; emails, addresses, and phone numbers. We have a working relationship with several of the commissioners and Transportation and Public Works.
Danny: In this year’s legislative calendar, the rail from the new Transit all the way down to Watkinsville is slated to be purchased. The money has not been appropriated yet, but it’s on the list to be acquired for $6.1 million which is a drop in the bucket for the DOT. If they acquire that, there will be great possibilities for using a rail bus to transport people up and down the spine, and bring people to and from campus. So, if you want to be active, write to your state legislator and ask them to support the funds for the 22 miles of track.
Joyce: Some people wonder why we’ve entered into this agreement with Athens Transit. You may be riding free, but is isn’t free. Parking is going to pay for those rides. That means less cars we have to accommodate, and therefore we hope to alleviate some of these parking decks we have to build, or park and rides that cost money. It’s worth the money to keep people on the bus.
After Committee assignments were given out, the meeting was adjourned.