So many people commute to UB that the collective body of faculty, staff and students drive a total of one hundred and twenty million miles in one year, estimates Walter Simpson, the university energy officer at UB.
Once UB's faculty, staff and students drive those miles, they need a place to park their vehicles. It is the finding of suitable parking that results in a complex and reoccurring issue on campus.
According to Chris Austin, the Department of Parking and Transportation's adjudication and transportation coordinator, there is an answer to the university-wide parking problems in the form of the new Park and Ride shuttle.
The Park and Ride Shuttle service is provided for students who cannot find parking in the more popular lots on campus. The shuttles are divided up into a color- coded system that will bring students from locations like the Center for Tomorrow Lot to various locations on the spine. Austin said that the shuttles arrive at their stops about every fifteen minutes.
"Finding a parking spot after 9:30 am is hard," said Marjorie Ward, a junior political science major. "I had no idea about the Park and Ride. I would probably use it in the winter, depending on how much time I had."
On north campus, the Blue Line Shuttle brings students from the Alumni Arena lot to Ellicott. The stadium lot is connected to the rest of campus through the Red Line.
South Campus is connected by the Orange Line, which brings students from the Parker and Main-Bailey lots to Main Circle and Diefendorf.
The Park and Ride program was instituted after UB underwent an independent evaluation while trying to come up with solutions to ease the parking jam on campus.
Some students said that their main concern regarding the Park and Ride program is whether or not the shuttle will run on a timely schedule.
"If I had half an hour before work, I wouldn't have time (to use the Park and Ride)," said Ward.
Sujata Sofat, a junior biomedical sciences major, agreed.
"It just takes too long," said Sofat. "It's fine for now, but if it's raining or snowing, it takes a long time."
A report from Chance Management Advisors, Inc. claims that a program like Park and Ride is a more cost-effective way to deal with the problem than building new lots or a parking garage. The report, available at the University at Buffalo Campus Parking and Transportation Web site, is a study that compares UB to similar institutions with similar parking issues.
"We had consultants on campus last year and their recommendations were that there are spaces available," said Austin, "the key issue was the additional cost of a parking garage, (when) you have spaces available on campus: do you spend these funds if there is parking available?"
One of the key trouble spots on campus was finding available parking for the Ellicott Complex, according to Austin. A new lot with one hundred forty spaces was constructed and opened this fall to alleviate some of the parking congestion in that area.
While the new lot may help alleviate the parking problems at Ellicott, some students believe that the Park and Ride program is not the best solution for students who park near the academic spine.
"A good solution would be a couple of additional parking lots," said Kimberley Patterson, a graduate student studying social work. "I think there's space for it."
Simpson questions not only the cost of building new spaces, but the environmental affect of building them as well.
"In general, (UB Green) is for doing the environmentally right thing, which would be to minimize parking lots and maximize alternative means of transportation, such as walking, bicycling, car pooling and taking the bus," said Simpson. "Some or all of which are not practical on North Campus, so it's a very difficult issue to resolve environmentally."
The Parking and Transportation Office appears to be making an attempt to factor in student concerns as well. They have placed comment cards in the Park and Ride shuttles, Austin said.
The report prepared by Chance Management Advisors also has a designated section of student comments from a survey taken from UB's student body. Many students claim that they have no knowledge of the program designed to alleviate parking woes, and still have trouble finding a convenient parking spot on campus.
"I haven't used the shuttle before," said Katherine Gastle, a senior legal studies major. "I think it's a good idea, but I've never used it."
Austin encourages students with questions or comments about Park and Ride to send an e-mail to ub-busing@acsu.buffalo.edu.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
