CSU turns to bikes, buses to ease parking woes

Wish there was a mobile phone app that told you where there was available parking on CSU's campus?

This could someday be reality, as officials seek to ease parking woes and encourage use of alternative transportation at the growing Fort Collins university.

Colorado State University officials on Monday released to the Coloradoan the university's new parking and transportation master plan study, which looks at how people will get to and from campus through 2024. CSU paid experts from Arizona-based Kimley-Horn and Associates $189,390 to help with development of the study, including solicitation of community feedback.

Completed in April, the study is based on the scenario that CSU might someday — the year isn't set in stone, officials said Monday — grow to 35,000 students. Increased enrollment will mean more students, more faculty and more buildings that will eat up existing surface lot parking spaces on the 390-acre main campus.

Campus transportation will look a lot different, as parking structures are pushed to the campus periphery, with its core preserved for bikers and walkers. The goal is to balance demand for parking with sustainable growth, which means reducing single-occupancy vehicle traffic by offering more robust alternative transportation options.

Changes, in part, come at a cost to CSU's customers.

The university's governing board earlier this month approved an increase in parking permit fees, which hadn't been raised in two years. Money will be used to pay for new technology. The top official with CSU's Parking and Transportation Services also said parking lots at CSU's Foothills Campus require roughly $5 million in maintenance — talks around this issue are ongoing.

Here are highlights from the master plan study and changes being discussed:

Parking garages: New and renovated building footprints chip away at existing surface lot parking spaces, so the idea is to grow up. CSU is considering seven sites where parking garages could be built, and "there's no one right answer on which comes first," said Dave Bradford, director of CSU Parking and Transportation Services.

Areas of consideration include two large garages south of the main campus on the other side of the Fort Collins Hilton as part of the "Bay Farm" project, and erecting a garage on either the existing Moby Arena or Westfall residence hall parking lots.

On-campus shuttle: The master plan suggested establishing an on-campus shuttle service, which the university will launch late this summer. The free service, Around the Horn, will make the loop from the southeast side of campus, around the Oval, to the Lory Student Center and Moby Arena in roughly 10 minutes.

Hire an alternative transportation manager: Aaron Fodge started in this position in August, months before the master plan's release. He has a budget of $500,000 and is working with the city on a master bicycle plan, and to improve conditions for those who opt to commute in something other than a car.

Since his hiring, MAX and Transfort services are free to all CSU employees (MAX is and Transfort was free to students); and Transfort has started running additional routes, including to CSU's Foothills campus and Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Education: At summer orientation, trainers will educate new students and their parents about alternative transportation modes, as a way of reducing the number of freshmen who brings cars to campus. Starting in the new school year, Ram guards will be posted at busy intersections across campus to make sure motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians alike travel through quickly and safely.

For example, roughly 1,200 bicycles pass through the intersection of University and Meridian Avenues each hour. Kimley-Horn experts studied traffic volume at 37 campus intersections.

Getting to campus: Trying to cross over to campus from the other side of Shields Street, Prospect Road, College Avenue or Laurel Street can be dangerous and prohibitive to people walking or riding to campus. CSU wants to work with the city to improve crossing options through potential creation of over- or underpasses.

Parking app: Those who have parked at CSU on a weekday — pretty much at any hour — know that finding parking can be challenging. So that people don't have to circle lots like those near Morgan Library five times during a hunt, CSU Transportation and Parking Services is investigating what it would take to create an app that shows users where there are available parking spots.

Also being discussed is creating a system where users could pay for parking on their phones. Think of never having to leave an on-campus event to refill the parking meter again.

Tracking neighborhood impacts: CSU invested in a GIS-based software program that will enable users to map transportation and parking scenarios for years to come. For example, a user could see how closing a parking garage due to construction would impact traffic to and from campus. It will also help CSU understand how changes could impact surrounding neighborhoods.

Bradford said his team hasn't used the software much yet but is looking forward to doing so.