Shuttle system coming to campus
By Tami Livingston
NEWS EDITOR
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Jen Quinn
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Skipper Consulting Inc., a transit consulting company, has made recommendations for the shuttle system, and a decision about the services to be offered is expected next week.
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A shuttle system is coming to the University of North Florida, but the services it will offer and the cost to students has not yet been decided.
The engineering and transportation consulting company hired by the university estimates that a shuttle system will cost between $960,000 and approximately $1.1 million per year. The majority of funding for the system is expected to come from a Transportation Access Fee that students will pay per credit hour.
"Students will pay if they want a shuttle system - which they do," said Everett Malcolm, associate vice president for Student Affairs. "Yet to be determined is what the university will invest."
This estimate does not include the cost of building the infrastructure needed for the shuttle system, Malcolm said. It only includes the cost of running the system, he said.
The university hired Skipper Consulting Inc. in November to assess the transportation needs of the campus and make recommendations for a possible shuttle system.
Late last year, Skipper studied the campus and surrounding areas, met with campus focus groups and conducted an online survey to ask the university community what they want in a shuttle system. They then composed a report outlining their preliminary recommendations and feedback from the university community. Mickey Hall of Skipper Consulting returned to campus Jan. 9 to discuss the recommendations integrating the feedback.
Skipper recommends having two routes, a North route and a South route. Under the recommendations, the North route would have three buses making a series of nine stops around campus with six-minute intervals between buses. The route would originate in the North parking lot, follow the North/South Connector Road and circle campus on the loop road, back up to the North lot. The North/South Road is scheduled to be built later this year and connect Lot 14 near the Child Research Development Center to Lot 18 on the north end of campus, Malcolm said.
The South route would have three buses stopping at eight stops with six-minute intervals, and would circle the core of campus on the loop road but also provide service to the AOL building, if it is purchased by the university.
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Parking proposal to go before BOT
By Tami Livingston
NEWS EDITOR
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The future of parking at the University of North Florida will soon be decided. The parking proposal for the 2007-2008 year is scheduled to go before the UNF Board of Trustees Jan. 26.
The proposal highlights includes restructuring of the permit categories, increases in parking rates and ticket prices and changes to daily parking passes.
Under the proposal, a new premium permit will replace general, 2nd and 3rd floor permits and encompass almost all parking within the loop road, said Vincent Smyth, director of Auxiliary Services. Under the proposal, residential students will purchase residential permits at a 1:1 ratio, meaning only one permit will be sold for each residential space with the rest of the residential students parking in Lot 18
he said.
Prices for the permits will also change under the proposal, with each category seeing an increase. Each price includes sales tax and is formulated to end in a zero or five, to make it easier for money handling purposes, Malcolm said.
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Parking Services moving on up
By Tami Livingston
NEWS EDITOR
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Facilities Planning :
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Parking Services will move to a new building, which will be built once Lot 100 is redesigned. The building is expected to be completed in September.
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Construction is scheduled to begin at the beginning of February on a new Parking Services building at the University of North Florida, and it is expected to be completed
in September.
The 3,000-square foot building is currently budgeted at $1.2 million and will be constructed in the center of Lot 100, near the Robert W. Loftin Nature Trails. It will replace the current information booth, said Vincent Smyth, director of Auxiliary Services. The current information booth will remain open through the coming months but will be demolished upon completion of the new building, he said.
"Essentially there will always be the ability to get a day pass from the St. Johns entrance and the Kernan entrance both during the construction and after the construction," Smyth said.
Parking Services is currently located in the Martin P. Garris Building, along with the University Police Department. Once parking services are relocated, UPD will use the vacated space for their records and lost and found departments, said UPD Chief Mark Foxworth.
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