EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Flexible and low-cost commuting to university campus with the U-PASS

Flexible and low-cost commuting to university campus with the U-PASS - Seattle, US

Introduction

The U-PASS programme of the University of Washington (UW) encourages students, staff and faculty to use alternatives to driving alone when they commute to Seattle’s campus district. The U-PASS offers a comprehensive package of flexible, low-cost transportation choices, ranging from unlimited travel on buses and trains to parking fee discounts for people who ride on car and vanpools. The University has also significantly improved the walking and cycling facilities for campus commuters. Close monitoring of the U-PASS programme’s achievements since its launch in1991 shows that it works. Despite a 22 per cent growth in the employee and student population, today’s UW-related peak hour traffic remains below 1990 levels. More than three-quarters of the campus population commutes using an alternative to driving alone.

Problem

Due to its large number of staff and faculty, the UW is bound by Washington state law to implement programmes that encourage employees to reduce the length and number of their drive-alone trips. The Commute Trip Reduction Law was adopted in 1991 as part of the Washington Clean Air Act.

Description

The U-PASS alternative transportation programme aims to limit the number of trips made to the University of Washington campus by single occupied vehicles (SOVs). The U-PASS is a sticker which is affixed to the back of the UW identification card. The U-PASS is available to the University’s students, faculty and staff.

The U-PASS offers the following benefits:

unlimited travel on commuter bus and train services
discounted parking for carpools
access to AlterNetRides, an on-line ridematching service for commuters
subsidised vanpool fares (i.e. if five to ten people share a ride in a van)
free rides on the Night Ride Shuttle, which runs in the evening to drop off people that live near the campus
discounted membership of Flexcar, a car sharing programme
discounts at businesses, such as restaurants, bike shops, and florists

Holders of the faculty/staff U-PASS additionally have access to:

Emergency Ride Home by taxi – this programme assures people who leave their car at home that they will have transportation if an emergency arises
discounted occasional parking if they drive alone less than two days per week
use of the UW vehicle pool for daily rental
use of the U-CAR programme for rental by the hour (both UW motor pool and U-CAR are only available for travel on UW business)

The UW Transportation Office also offers several incentives to commuters to walk and cycle to the campus.

Walking
A free printed or on-line map is available with the walking routes on the campus. Faculty and staff can use the shower and clothing locker facilities if they want to freshen up after their walk. Each spring, U-PASS holds a campaign to urge the campus community to Walk to Work, Walk at Lunch, Walk to Meetings, and join the Walk-In Challenge. Walkers in the Challenge earn points and prizes for walking commute trips.

Cycling
The UW accommodates cyclists by providing bicycle racks and lockers. It has the largest bike locker programme in the US. U-PASS holders can buy bicycle parts and accessories at a discount at four area bike shops participating in the Merchant Discounts Programme. Each year, about 100 abandoned bikes are sold back to the staff, students, faculty and community. There is also a Rain Bicycle Challenge which encourages the campus community to adopt cycling as a year-round transportation alternative.

Approach

The key component of the U-PASS programme is managing the demand for drive-alone travel through product pricing. With the launch of the U-PASS, the University increased the cost of parking by 50 per cent. It still maintains a policy of controlling the rise in U-PASS fees and keeping them significantly lower than the cost of parking. To maintain this system that favours alternatives to driving alone, parking fees have been raised faster than U-PASS fees. Since 1991, the cost of a quarterly parking permit has increased from 80 euros to 188 euros. By contrast, a quarterly student U-PASS costs 32 euros.

The student U-PASS holders receive their U-PASS sticker through the post prior to the beginning of each quarter. If he/she does not wish to participate, the sticker can be returned to the UW Transportation Services department. Staff and faculty can buy their U-PASS at the campus. They can also choose to pay for the U-PASS through payroll deduction.

Results

The 2006 annual report of the U-PASS programme shows the following results:

Despite a 22 per cent growth in employee and student population, today’s University-related peak hour traffic remains below 1990 levels. More than three-quarters of the campus population commutes using an alternative to driving alone.
There is a continuing decline in vehicle trips.
85 Per cent of students, 68 per cent of faculty, and 70 per cent of staff participated in the U-PASS programme in 2006.
96 Per cent of students, 96 per cent of faculty, and 93 per cent of staff are very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the U-PASS programme.
There has been a reduction of 41 per cent in the number of unlimited-use SOV parking permits since the programme’s inception. In addition, the number of parking spaces used has declined as faculty, staff, and students have shifted away from driving alone.

Resources used

The 2006 U-PASS annual budget was approximately 9.6 million euros, with 92 per cent of that cost attributed to service contracts with local public transportation providers. User fees covered more than half of the programme costs, while revenue received from the sales of parking permits covered about 37 per cent. Revenue from parking fines and other UW sources accounted for the remainder.

Contact info

UW Transportation Office
Phone: +1 206 5430450
upass@u.washington.edu

Project start date

/09/1991

Links

Visit the UW Commuter Services website

Download the ‘2006 U-PASS annual report’ (PDF, Eng, 5.8 MB)

Download the ‘Student U-PASS transportation guide 2006-07’ (PDF, Eng, 800 KB)

Download the ‘Faculty/Staff U-PASS transportation guide 2006-07’ (PDF, Eng, 736 KB)

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords

Transport and infrastructure, Urban environment