Commuter Services sent out an email this week asking students to take an online survey about their commuting habits. The survey opened Oct. 1 and closes Oct. 13.
Alma Allred, Director of Commuter Services, said the survey serves a variety of purposes, but it is a required part of the U’s contract with Utah Transit Authority. Since students attending the U receive free UTA services, the U is required to survey the population every couple years.
”[UTA] has to tell the feds how many people are actually using the service, so we tell them how many people on campus are using it,” Allred said.
The survey also provides data for U president David Pershing’s commitment to sustainability. The commitment involves following the Campus Master Plan, which is in part aimed at providing functional and sustainable transportation systems. This includes improving accessibility to transit, continuing to promote alternative modes of transportation and establishing a more efficient and effective parking strategy.
Commuter Services wants to know if the programs it has implemented have been successful at getting people out of their cars and in the habit of using alternative transportation. It encourages students to bike to the U and take mass transit.
“I don’t have any predictions [for the survey results], but I will say parking isn’t as tight this fall as we expected it to be,” Allred said.
While parking may not have been as tight as projected, it has still deterred some students from parking on campus.
Tyler Duffett, a junior studying parks recreation and tourism, lives a mile off campus and rides his bike. He said the congestion of on-campus parking, as well as the cost of parking passes and tickets affected his decision to bike “big time.”
“I bought a pass, and that was pretty expensive and then I would get tickets, and that made it astronomically more expensive,” Duffett said.
Over the years the surveys have revealed a trend of a decline in students and faculty driving their cars and an increase in those groups utilizing public transit.
Some students seem to be right in line with the trend.
Melissa Williams, a senior in sociology said, “I drove to campus today. I drive two or three days a week. On the other days I just take TRAX.”
Commuter services has added some extra incentive to participate. Five survey participants will win an iPad or $500 gift card to a local bike shop.