Transportation Grounds

Sustainable Transportation and

Grounds in UIC

Report prepared by



Transportation and Grounds Subcommittee



Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy

Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy









Sustainable Transportation and

Grounds in UIC

Report prepared by



Transportation and Grounds Subcommittee



Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy



April 2009



Committee Chair: Piyushimita Thakuriah



Subcommittee Members:

Pablo Acevedo

Karin Allen

Sayaka Araki

Joseph Dijohn

Darlene Ebel

Daniel Fredman

Cynthia Klein-Banai

Danielle Inendino

Kevin Monahan

Wanda Perry

Beth Sholtis









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Executive Summary

The Transportation and Grounds Subcommittee, as part of the Chancellor’s Committee

on Sustainability and Energy, undertook the task of reviewing transportation and

landscape and grounds practices on campus in terms of sustainability, efficiency and

best practices. Following the recommendations of the Chancellor’s Task Force on

Campus Sustainability and driven by UIC’s pledges to the American College and

University Presidents Climate Commitment, and the Illinois Sustainable University

Compact, the subcommittee identified issues, opportunities and concerns regarding

transportation and landscape and grounds keeping on campus. The subcommittee’s

comprehensive study has resulted in a set of short and long term recommendations to

improve sustainability and achieve the goal of climate neutrality adopted by UIC.



The policy statement and vision developed for this report dovetail with the UIC Master

Plan Vision Statement and the strategies outlined in the UIC Climate Action Plan. The

standards and reports which guided the subcommittee’s deliberation and analysis

included university sustainability commitments, the Sustainability Tracking, Rating &

Assessment Standards (STARS), Transportation Demand Management strategies and

policies, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) standards and Urban Forestry

and Arboriculture practices. These standards define current best practices and shape

the pragmatic and wide-ranging collection of techniques and procedures recommended

for UIC, maximizing the university’s advantageous location and access to services and

programs.



The objectives of the analysis undertaken as a part of this report are twofold; first, to

understand travel and transportation use patterns by UIC students, staff and faculty and

to identify areas where travel alternatives may exist; and second, to examine where

opportunities may exist to incorporate sustainable grounds practices. The findings

reported are based on analysis of existing data as well as a primary data collection:



Sources of Data

Analysis undertaken by the Urban Transportation Center:



Analysis of the UTC’s Spatial Decision Support System, a market analysis of faculty and

staff potential use of alternative modes of transportation.



Survey of UIC U-PASS users to understand student travel behavior and incentives and

programs that can be developed to encourage more transit usage by students.



Information provided by UIC Facilities Management. Data on parking, vehicles and other

amenities were provided.



UIC Campus Commuter Survey, conducted by the Office of Sustainability looks at

primary modes of transportation used to commute to UIC.









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Summary of Findings

Assets and Services

 UIC has a total of 41 parking lots with 11,944 parking spaces in the East and

West campuses combined.

 UIC offers a variety of transportation services, including Intercampus shuttle

buses, the Red Car/Off-Hour Paratransit Service, a Chauffeur service is also

available and commuter buses which operate between the campus and major

commuter train stations.

 The campus is strategically located with several city bus routes and train services

that operate through the heart of campus.

 Campus fleet vehicles include those used for Campus Auto Rental Service, the

campus police and vehicles used for on-site operations and maintenance.

 Currently, the institution’s motorized fleet emits 0.2 carbon dioxide equivalent

(CO2 e) per passenger mile traveled.

 UIC draws hundreds of thousands of business and academic visitors, special

events attendees and patients annually, to various facilities across campus.



Demand Patterns

 Overall, less than 25% of UIC faculty, students and staff who responded to the

UIC Office of Sustainability Commuter Survey, reported that they drive the entire

commute to campus. The remainder of the campus community uses multiple

modes to travel an average of 15 miles each way per trip.

 Close to 38 percent of faculty and staff reside in zip codes where the transit

availability is generally excellent to good. Close to 40 percent reside in areas

within the six counties that have excellent pedestrian amenities; another 25

percent or so reside in areas with “Good” values of pedestrian accessibility.

Employees residing in such areas, who are currently solo drivers to campus, may

be considered for incentives, information and marketing to occasionally use

transit to campus.

 Mode use has changed since 2001 due to the availability of the U-PASS and

transit benefit. This has impacted intercampus shuttle ridership, decreasing

usage by over 50%.

 Overall, there are enough “spatially clustered’ groups of faculty and staff to whom

transit is not available. Employees in these spatially clustered groups may be

better served with express buses, vanpools, carpools and other high occupancy

modes.

 Almost 20 percent of UIC students live within 2 miles of campus and about 35

percent live within 5 miles. In FY2007, 3,109 students resided in campus housing

in the east, south or west sides. Beginning in FY2008, 3,700 students resident on

campus.

 Close to 90 percent of UIC students have a valid driver’s license and about 72

percent have a private vehicle available to them.

 More than 60 percent of UIC U-PASS users are “moderate intensity users” who

ride the transit system between 32 and 106 times per semester. About 18

percent are “high intensity users” who ride the system 106 times per semester.

Only 5 percent of U-PASS holders are non-users (never used the transit system

at all during a semester).



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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Policy Statement

Consistent with our mission of creating a sustainable urban campus, we recommend

adopting a cost-effective, opportunistic and equitable short-term strategy towards the

achieving the university’s sustainability goals and a long term strategy that incorporates

modern, efficient and technologically innovative transportation and grounds systems

and programs, enabling the University to respond to increasing demands while

maximizing options and benefits and minimizing the negative impact on individuals,

human health, and the environment.









Recommendations

This list consolidates the subcommittee’s recommendations by topic. Please refer to the

expanded list of recommendations found on page 34.



Recommendations for Transportation

Transportation Demand

There are numerous strategies that can be utilized to increase sustainable mode use in

the UIC campus.



 Boosting bicycle usage e.g. expanding the bike lane network, provide secure

parking.

 Promote and expand UIC Transportation Benefit Program.

 Improve transit stop security and amenities.

 Adopt alternatives to air travel such as the use of videoconferencing, Hybrid

rental vehicles or AMTRAK.

 Education and outreach.

 Ridesharing.

 Guaranteed ride home programs for emergency situations.

 Relieving Parking Services of the management of the Transit Benefit program.

 Travel training to faculty/students and students.

 Aggressively seek federal/state grant money.

 Specialized bus service such as express or subscription services.

 Analyze Shuttle Bus and Red Car services to improve efficiency.

 Review price of on-campus parking.

 An Ozone Action Day.

 Telecommuting and Compressed Work Week









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Energy and Vehicles

 Based on analyses made by the Campus Master Planning consultants, more

direct routing of buses should be implemented.

 Engage the CTA in discussions as to whether there are opportunities to provide

services to the entire campus community in more economical ways by utilizing

and expanding on their existing bus routes.

 Continue to phase in hybrids and vehicles with higher fuel economy for the

campus fleet.

 Evaluate whether car-sharing options such as I-Go or Zipcar could be utilized for

campus travel purposes.



Recommendations for Grounds

 Establishment of a Grounds Advisory Committee to assist in implementing listed

tree and landscape guidelines (as in full report).

 Urban Forestry: adoption of an urban forestry program, such as Tree Campus

USA that provides essential tools in supporting and recognizing grounds

managers’ efforts, addresses long-term environmental sustainability and commits

annual expenditures for tree care on campus.

 Utilization of the campus grounds as a resource for research, education and

outreach at all levels.

 Sponsor outreach and educational events that engage community and support

long term strategies.

 UIC should explore the possibility of obtaining funds for activities such as;

quarterly information sessions to educate employees and hiring a grounds

coordinator to manage sustainable landscape initiatives.

 Capture stormwater onsite

 Composting

 Reduce/eliminate irrigation









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Table of Contents

 

Executive Summary ..........................................................................................................iii 

Summary of Findings ................................................................................................... iv 

Recommendations ............................................................................................................ v 

Recommendations for Transportation ........................................................................... v 

Recommendations for Grounds ................................................................................... vi 

Table of Contents .............................................................................................................vii 

Table of Figures .............................................................................................................. viii 

Table of Tables ............................................................................................................... viii 

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 

Report Guidance ............................................................................................................... 3 

Objectives of Analysis and Data ....................................................................................... 5 

Existing Sources of Data ............................................................................................... 6 

Primary Data Collection Effort ....................................................................................... 6 

Major Findings ........................................................................................................... 7 

Parking and Transit Benefit Use ................................................................................. 19 

Campus Fleet .................................................................................................................. 24 

Grounds Data .................................................................................................................. 27 

Primary Data Collection Effort ..................................................................................... 28 

Performance on STARS Standards ................................................................................ 28 

UIC Campus Master Plan Initial Findings ....................................................................... 30 

Summary of Major Findings ............................................................................................ 32 

Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 34 

Recommendations for Transportation ......................................................................... 34 

Recommendations for Grounds .................................................................................. 44 









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Table of Figures



Figure 1: Residential Locations of Faculty and Staff ......................................................... 9 

Figure 2: Transit Availability to Faculty and Staff ............................................................ 10 

Figure 3: Pedestrian Amenities available to Faculty and Staff ........................................ 11 

Figure 4: Distribution of UIC Students Residence from Campus .................................... 12 

Figure 5: Mode Split for UIC Commuters using one mode of Transportation ................. 13 

Figure 6: Diurnal pattern of rides by U-PASS holders..................................................... 15

Figure 7: Reasons for using U-PASS.............................................................................. 18

Figure 8: Reasons for not using U-PASS........................................................................ 18

Figure 9: Total Parking Assignments by User Type ........................................................ 22

Figure 10: Parking Assignment by Location, East Side .................................................. 23

Figure 11: Parking Assignments by Location, West Side ............................................... 23

Figure 12: Transit Benefit Participation ........................................................................... 24

Figure 13: UIC Fleet Fuel Consumption.......................................................................... 25









Table of Tables



Table 1: Mode Shares by commuter type for those using one mode* ............................ 14

Table 2: Mode Choice by Percentage of Use for those using three modes .................... 15

Table 3: Frequency distribution of respondent:rides taken per semester using U-PASS 17

Table 4: Parking Facility Information East Campus ........................................................ 20

Table 5: Parking Facility Information West Campus ....................................................... 21

Table 6: Daytime Intercampus, Total Passengers .......................................................... 26

Table 7: Evening Intercampus, Total Passengers .......................................................... 26

Table 8: Commuter Shuttle, Total Passengers ............................................................... 27

Table 9: Weekend and Holiday Intercampus, Total Passengers .................................... 27









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Introduction

The Transportation and Grounds (T & G) Subcommittee of the UIC

Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy has been

assigned the task of reviewing transportation and landscape and

grounds practices on campus and to develop recommendations to

improve sustainability and environmentally friendly strategies in these

areas. Towards this end, the subcommittee undertook a strategy of

identifying the major issues and concerns in these areas, to collect

relevant data and to develop a set of short-term that are practical,

cost-effective and equitable and take advantage of available services

and programs. The committee also recommends several long-term

strategies that are the innovative and makes use of cutting-edge

technology to improve sustainability practices.



UIC has 25,000 students and over 12,000 faculty and staff. The

campus is located west of the Chicago loop on approximately 240

acres. The campus has the nation’s largest medical school and over

100 buildings. Northeastern Illinois is a moderate non-attainment area

for the 8-hour ozone standard and a non-attainment area for the

annual fine particulate matter standard (PM2.5) (Chicago Metropolitan

Agency for Planning, 2009). Cook County, in which UIC is located,

has been ranked the county with the third highest level of carbon

emissions in the U.S. (with 13,209,000 tons of carbon per year), after

Harris County, TX and Los Angeles County, CA. (CleanBeta, 2009).

Crain’s Chicago Business ranked UIC the 17th largest employer in the

City of Chicago in 2003. The adoption of sustainable transportation

and grounds policies and operations not only has the potential to

harvest benefits that accrue to “early adopters”, but also to bring

about benefits to the region as a whole.



Sustainable Transportation and Grounds

Sustainable transportation or sustainable mobility practices commonly

address the environmental and ecological impacts of travel, including

the influence of the transportation sector on energy consumption,

greenhouse gases, air quality emissions, air and water quality and

habitats. There are several definitions of sustainable transportation,

many of which are restricted to the physical and environmental

aspects of transportation; for example, the Organization for Economic

Cooperation and Development (OECD) defined sustainable

transportation as: "Transportation that does not endanger public

health or ecosystems and meets mobility needs consistent with (a)

use of renewable resources at below their rates of regeneration and

(b) use of non-renewable resources at below the rates of development

of renewable substitutes” (OECD, 1994).



However, over time, sustainable transportation has also emphasized

the concepts of social equity and economic effectiveness. For

example, the World Bank (1996) emphasized on three components:



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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





the economic and financial component (which includes issues of

adequacy of transportation infrastructure funding, organization and

scale), the social component (which emphasizes on adequate access

to transportation by all segments of society) and finally, the

environmental and ecological component (with an emphasis similar to

what was described earlier).



Sustainable grounds emphasize the use of sustainable design

principles in the planning, design, and maintenance of outdoor space.

Design techniques include planting trees to shade buildings from the

sun or protect them from wind, minimizing building heat and cooling

requirements with vegetation, emphasizing plant longevity and health,

reducing the need for potable water for irrigation, using local materials

and buying stock from local growers, or within reasonable distances to

avoid energy use in transportation.



As in the case of sustainable transportation, sustainable grounds and

landscapes consist of an environmental and ecological component, an

economic component and a social justice and equity component.

However, many times, definitions place greater emphasis on the

environmental component, as in the case of the Sustainable Site

Initiative (2008) report, the primary focus of which is the environment,

including those aspects of economic feasibility and social equity that

intersect with the environment.



Vision of UIC Transportation and Grounds

The vision of the UIC Sustainable Transportation and Grounds

Subcommittee is to have transportation and grounds investments,

planning and operations be driven by eco-friendly principles that

target reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The Subcommittee

has put forward a series of benchmarks that are based on desirable

outcomes rather than prescriptive measures, with the aspiration of

enabling UIC to leverage advances in technology and educational

practices and to inspire a change in thinking among administration,

faculty, students and staff.



The goal in doing so is not only to initiate economically feasible and

equitable reductions in greenhouse gases but also to position the

campus in the frontier of leadership among university campuses

nationally in pioneering sustainable transportation and grounds

practices.



Policy Statement

Consistent with our mission of creating a sustainable urban campus,

we recommend adopting a balanced, cost-effective and equitable

short-term strategy towards achieving the university’s sustainable

transportation and grounds goals and a long term strategy that





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incorporates modern, efficient and technologically innovative

transportation and grounds systems and programs, thereby enabling

the University to respond to increasing demands while maximizing

options and benefits and minimizing the negative impact on

individuals, human health, and the environment.









Report Guidance

The Subcommittee’s deliberations and analysis were guided by a set

of commitments, standards and policies: firstly, the American College

& University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and the

Illinois Sustainable University Compact, secondly, the Sustainability

Tracking and Rating Assessment (STARS) standards, which were

developed through a collaborative effort by the Association for

Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and

secondly, strategies and policies that have developed over time in the

transportation and landscape sectors, including Transportation

Demand Management, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality

(CMAQ), Urban Forestry and Arboriculture practices.



ACUPCC & Illinois Sustainable University Compact

On September 14, 2007, UIC became an inaugural signatory to the

American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment that

recognizes that colleges and universities must provide leadership in

their communities by modeling ways to minimize global warming

emissions and by providing the knowledge and skills to students to

address the critical challenges and develop solutions to the issues we

face today. The first part of the commitment was to initiate two or

more tangible actions to reduce greenhouse gases while the more

comprehensive plan is being developed. One of UIC’s tangible actions

is to encourage the use of and provide access to public transportation

for all faculty, staff, students and visitors at our institution.



In cooperation with the Illinois Green Government Coordinating

Council, chaired by then Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, and

universities and community colleges across Illinois, UIC joined the

Illinois Sustainable University Compact on February 7, 2008. Among

UIC’s six goals, pledged to be accomplish by December 31, 2010 is to

promote more sustainable transportation options, such as purchasing

hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles whenever practical, using renewable

fuels for our campus fleet and establishing successful car-sharing and

carpooling programs on campus.









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STARS Standards

The STARS standards are comprised of a credit system for

sustainable operations. STARS is comprised of two types of credits:

Tier One credits are worth one or more points and, where possible,

are based on sustainability outcomes; Tier Two credits are worth less

than one point and, in general, recognize strategies institutions can

adopt to move toward sustainability.



STARS points can be earned in three main areas: education and

research, operations and administration and finance. Details may be

found in AASHE (2008). Transportation and grounds are included

under the operations category.



Transportation credits can be obtained based on UIC’s performance

on criteria relating to GHG emissions from UIC’s motorized fleet;

Commute Modal Split (or the percentage of the institution’s faculty,

students and staff who travel to campus by means other than Single

Occupant Vehicles (SOV’s)); Commuter Options or the tools,

incentives or programs available in UIC to encourage the use of

alternative modes of transportation such as transit subsidies, bicycle

facilities, awards programs and parking incentives for carpoolers; and

air travel or the extent to which creative solutions have been instituted

to reduce air travel emissions.



STARS credits for grounds can be obtained under the Organic

Campus category, which applies to institutions where only those

pesticides and fertilizers that are allowable under the U.S. Department

of Agriculture’s standards for organic crop production are used and

the extent to which non-potable water (or water that is not fit to drink

but may be safely used for other purposes such as reclaimed water,

gray water or rainwater) is used for irrigation.



The Subcommittee’s findings regarding UIC’s performance in the

STARS Transportation and Grounds components are given under the

section on Findings.



Other Policies and Strategies

A variety of other policies and programs informed the Subcommittee

about strategies to improve the sustainability of UIC’s transportation

and grounds. Approaches that were mined from the variety of policies

considered on the basis of feasibility, cost-effectiveness, possibility of

innovation and level of match with UIC faculty and staff interest and

equity.



Transportation Demand Management (TDM) are a set of sustainable

mobility practices, the objective of which are to reduce SOV car use or

to otherwise distribute transportation demand over time and space.



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The CMAQ program was instituted by the Intermodal Surface

Transportation Act and supports a variety of strategies targeted

towards improving air quality. Other transportation programs that

informed this report include transit practices, fleet management

practices, employee commute options and community transportation

concepts, employment transportation programs, bicycle and

pedestrian programs, Intelligent Transportation Systems,

Computational Transportation Science and a variety of other

approaches.



Urban forestry is the care, management and protection of urban

forests and tree populations in urban areas, with the specific goal of

raising public awareness of the importance of trees and protecting the

urban environment. Arboriculture is the cultivation and management

of trees and shrubs within the landscape. This includes the study of

how trees grow and respond to cultural practices and the

environment, as well as application of cultural techniques such as

selection, planting, care, surgery and removal. Educational programs

such as Project Learning Tree and Nature Explore Classroom served

as the basis for the education and outreach aspects of the Grounds

component.



It is also recognized the current UIC Campus Master Planning

process, will also provide short-term and long-term recommendations

to improve campus transportation systems and grounds. Relevant

principles in developing the plan include:

 Enhance the inter-relationship between the campus and the

community by ensuring that physical improvements promote

way-finding, social interaction, pedestrian traffic and active use

of outdoor spaces.

 Improve the practical and symbolic bonds unifying the east

and west sides of campus, reducing impediments to the flow of

people and implementing way-finding, landscape features and

edge treatments that highlight an urban campus identity.

 Identify opportunities to make physical improvements to

enhance campus sustainability and thereby reduce its carbon

footprint and conserve natural resources.









Objectives of Analysis and Data

The objectives of the analysis undertaken as a part of this report are:

 To understand travel and transportation use patterns by UIC

and students, staff and faculty and to identify areas where

travel alternatives may exist;

 To examine where opportunities may exist to incorporate

sustainable grounds practices.







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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





The findings reported in this section are based on analysis of existing

data as well as a primary data collection:



Existing Sources of Data

 Analysis undertaken by the Urban Transportation Center:

- Analysis of the UTC’s Spatial Decision Support System, a

geospatial database of indicators on the Chicago metro

area’s economic, social and physical aspects: This

analysis allowed us to obtain aggregate-level

understanding of where UIC faculty and staff reside, the

characteristics of their neighborhoods, their possibility of

using transit and other higher occupancy modes of

transportation – in other words, a market analysis of faculty

and staff potential use of alternative modes of

transportation.

- Survey of UIC U-PASS users conducted as part of the

Center’s grant funded by the Chicago Transit Authority, in

fall 2008 and summarized in a master’s thesis by Swarup

(2009). U-PASS is a program administered by the CTA,

under which students have to pay a certain fee each

semester for unlimited usage in CTA trains and buses for

that semester. The same service is offered in Pace

suburban bus service. The survey was administered to

those full-time students at UIC who received (or were

eligible to receive) U-Passes during 2003-2007. A total of

3,327 completed surveys were received. The purpose of

using data from this survey is to understand student travel

behavior and incentives and programs that can be

developed to encourage more transit usage by students.

.

 Data provided by UIC Facilities Management. Information on

parking, vehicles, ridership, fuel consumption, program costs, and

other amenities was provided.



Primary Data Collection Effort

 UIC Campus Commuter Survey, conducted by the Office of

Sustainability. This survey was conducted as part of the active

transportation program that UIC participates in with the Chicago

Department of Transportation and was partially funded by a

National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Fellowship to refine

UIC’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The Office of Sustainability

surveyed the UIC campus community in November and December

2008 regarding the primary modes of transportation used to

commute to UIC. Responses from 2785 UIC campus community

members were used to prepare this analysis. Respondents

identified themselves as faculty, staff, full-time students, or part-

time students.



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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Major Findings

UIC has a total of 41 parking lots with 11,944 parking spaces in the

East and West campuses combined. Intercampus shuttle buses

provide service between East, West and South campuses. On-

campus paratransit service is available with appropriate authorization

for UIC faculty, students and staff with disabilities. The Red Car/Off-

Hour Paratransit Service is an escort service that provides

transportation to university employees, students, visitors, and other

authorized individuals between university facilities and from university

facilities to points of public transportation, or to private residences

within a designated area and a Chauffeur service is also available.

Commuter buses operate between the campus and the Union and

Northwestern Metra train stations. The Chicago Transit Authority

operates several bus routes through the campus area and the Blue

line “El” goes through the north and west side of campus.



Campus fleet vehicles include those used for Campus Auto Rental

Service, the campus police, departmental use, and vehicles used for

on-site operations and maintenance.



UIC has 25,000 students and over 12,000 faculty and staff. Visitors,

hospital patients and special event attendees also add to the demand

for transportation and use of grounds facilities. In FY2007, meetings

and conferences on campus hosted 397,572 guests at 10,268

meetings in the UIC Student Centers. A total of 331,757 visits were

made to the Student Recreation Facility and 155,395 were made to

the Sport and Fitness Center. This included 17,264 unique individuals.

The UIC Pavilion attracted 296,044 people to 125 events. Attendance

at events sponsored by Campus Programs was 176,991. UIC Flames

home basketball games drew 74,254 sports fans.



Residential Locations and Commuting Distances

Figure 1 shows a map of zipcodes where UIC faculty and staff reside.

While faculty and staff reside in neighborhoods that are scattered all

over the six-county Northeastern Illinois region (comprising Cook,

DuPage, Lake, Will, McHenry and Kane counties), there are clusters

of areas within 10-15 miles with high concentrations of faculty and

staff.



Commuters typically decide on the mode of transportation to use not

only on the basis of convenience and cost of different options, but

also on the basis of the availability of the options to them. For this

reason, we have analyzed the extent to which taking transit or walking

are options to UIC faculty and staff. Figure 2 shows the level of transit

availability in the Chicago metro area, with the intensity of UIC

faculty/staff superimposed by graduated dots, which are indicative of

the number of faculty/staff. The Transit Availability Index (TAI) is a



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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





composite index giving the extent to which residents have access to

transit (bus and rail). The TAI measure is based on three input

measures – frequency (person-minutes served), hours of service

(number of hours) and service coverage (percentage of the area

covered). Close to 38% of faculty and staff reside in zipcodes where

the TAI values are excellent to good.



Another indicator of the ability of faculty and staff to use alternative

modes of transportation is the extent to which their neighborhoods are

pedestrian friendly. Figure 3 shows the extent to which faculty and

staff resides in areas that are pedestrian friendly as measured by a

Pedestrian Friendliness Index (PFI). The PFI is a composite index

ranking tract suitability for non-motorized travel including pedestrian

and bike travel. The PFI is calculated with input values of population,

income, number of households, amount of commercial and residential

land uses as a percentage of census tracts, weighted pedestrian trip

origins and destinations from the census journey to work data, and

Pedestrian Environment Factor (PEF) values, where PEF’s are the

average number of blocks for the quarter section within each census

tract and the eight adjacent quarter sections. Close to 40% of UIC

faculty and staff reside in areas within the six counties that have

excellent PFI levels; another 25% or so reside in areas with “Good”

values of PFI. These patterns are indicative of the necessary

infrastructure being there for a large number of faculty staff to be able

to access transit, express bus and other higher occupancy modes of

travel.



Figures 2 and 3 also show that there are enough “spatially clustered’

groups of faculty and staff to whom transit is not available or who do

not reside in areas which are conducive to biking or walking.

Employees in these spatially clustered groups may be better served

with express buses, vanpools, carpools and other high occupancy

modes.



The distribution of distances at which students live from campus is

shown in Figure 4. Almost 20% of UIC students live within 2 miles of

campus and about 35% live within 5 miles. In FY2007, 3,109 students

resided in campus housing in the east, south or west sides. Students

also share apartments or have other types of shared housing in the

Taylor Street, Pilsen and Tri-Taylor areas. Many students also live in

neighborhoods along the CTA Blue line. However, a large number of

students appear to be commuting more than 25 miles to come to

school. Close to 90% of UIC students have a valid driver’s license and

about 72% have a private vehicle available to them.









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy









Figure 1: Residential Locations of Faculty and Staff









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Figure 2: Transit Availability to Faculty and Staff









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Figure 3: Pedestrian Amenities available to Faculty and Staff









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy







Figure 4: Distribution of UIC Students Residence from Campus







25





20

Percent of Students









15





10





5





0

0-1 1-2 3-5 6-8 9-11 12-15 16-18 19-21 22-25 > 25

Miles from Campus







Note: Not all students’ campus addresses were provided in the source data, therefore

there are a large number of students with addresses > 25 miles.







Commute Mode Split

A little over half (55.4%) of the UIC Office of Sustainability Commute

survey respondents, use one mode of transportation to commute to

UIC. The average distance traveled by those using one mode of

transportation is 11 miles.



The mode split of commuters who use one mode from their trip from

home to UIC is given in Figure 5. Approximately 43% of these

commuters drive alone, 18% use the CTA “El” and 11% use CTA or

Pace bus. About 7% reported biking and another 8% reported walking

to campus.









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy







Figure 5: Mode Split for UIC Commuters using one mode of Transportation

Mode Split by Percentage

One travel mode only 



3% 2%

7%





8%

Drive Alone



"El"

43%

CTA or PACE Bus

8%

Carpool



Walk



Bike

11% MetraRail



Intercampus or Semester

Express Shuttle



18%









The mode shares by type of commuter who reported using only one

mode is given in Table 1. Across all types of commuters, the percent

of individuals driving alone is the highest for all types of modes. Staff

are most likely to drive, followed by part-time students and then

faculty. Staff are also most likely to carpool. Full-time students are the

most likely to use public transportation (CTA el, CTA or Pace bus or

Metra Commuter Rail). Reflecting the close proximity in which

students reside to campus, full-time students are also the most likely

to use non-motorized transportation (bike and walk) to campus. 









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Table 1: Mode Shares by commuter type for those using one mode*





T Full-time Part-time Faculty Staff

h Student Students

Drive Alone 22.5 51.2 45.7 56.1

CTA “El” 24.9 23.8 17.6 12.3

Bus 18.8 4.8 4.5 7.6

Carpool 2.7 7.1 10.4 11.5

Walk T 13.0 2.4 5.0 4.6

h

Bike 12.2 9.5 10.0 3.5

e

Metra Rail 1.7 1.2 4.1 3.3

Intercampus 4.1 0 2.7 1.1

or Express

Shuttle

T

*Short-distance walking may be involved in accessing transit stops and stations





The number of modes used tends to increase with the distance

traveled from home to campus. The average distance traveled for

those using two modes is 20 miles; for those using three modes, 28

miles. Approximately 44.6% of the survey respondents use two or

more transportation modes to get to UIC. Metra users lead the group

of commuters who use two modes of transportation to UIC. Of those

who drive for the first segment of the commute to UIC, 55% drive to

the “El” and 24% drive to Metra. Those who take Metra for the first

segment of the commute to UIC, about 94% travel more than 10 miles

on Metra and 67% travel 20 miles or farther



Those who walk or bike for the first segment of the commute to UIC,

about 80% walk and 20% ride a bicycle. About 65% of these non-

motorized trips are 1 mile or less, 13% are 2 miles and 14% are

reported to be between 3 and 5 miles.

 

The average distance traveled by those who use three modes of

transportation to get to UIC is 28 miles. Table 2 gives the distribution

of respondents with first, second or third mode choices. About 18% of

survey respondents use three modes of transportation to get to UIC.

Close to 40% of this group identifies as full-time students and all use

the U-Pass. The first segment of the commute for this group is mixed;

almost 37% drive to transit and 22% walk. Transit is the mode of

choice for the second segment of the commute; 89% of this group use

Metra, the “El” or a bus for the second part of their commute. The last

segment of the commute to UIC tends to be a shorter distance, but

the mode varies. 32% take a bus, 30% walk and 24% take the “El.”

The overall commute pattern for this group consists of a trip of short

distance (less than five miles) followed by a long distance trip, ending

with a short distance.  

 



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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





 

Table 2: Mode Choice by Percentage of Use for those using three modes





First Mode %of Second Mode %of Use Third Mode % of

Share Use Share Share Use

Drive Alone 37% Metra 57% CTA or PACE 32%

Bus

Walk 22% “El” 20% Walk 30%

CTA (or PACE) 13% CTA (or PACE) 12% “El” 24%

Bus Bus

Metra 11% Walk 4% Intercampus 8%

Shuttle

Carpool 8% Bike 2% Commuter 3%

Shuttle

Bike 6% Intercampus or 2% Bike 2%

Commuter

Shuttle

“El” 4% Drive Alone 2% Metra 2%





Schedules and Arrival Times

Work schedules are an important component of travel demand.

Academic institutions are likely to have a greater percentage of

workers who are on variable schedules, compared to private

businesses and government agencies, which are more likely to

operate during the usual “9 to 5” times.



In UIC, staff and part-time students have the most predictable

schedules. Faculty members tend to be on campus during the

business day with a somewhat varied schedule, while full-time

students have the greatest schedule variety, with more than 25%

stating that their schedules vary considerably.



The distribution of rides made by U-PASS holders is given, by type of

day (weekday or weekend day) in Figure 6. For weekday rides, it can

be seen that the peak time period is the midday period (9AM-3PM).

Thus, student U-PASS holders do not have the typical travel profiles

of commuters in general – for general commuters, there is a morning

peak of transit rides (6AM-10AM) and an evening peak (3PM-7PM).



Looking at the time distribution of trips over the weekend (which are in

all likelihood, discretionary or recreational trips), the peak hours for U-

Pass trips are the midday time period (9AM to 3PM) and the evening

time period (6PM-9PM). One implication of this pattern is that the U-

PASS program is helping boost transit ridership during time periods

when it does not typically have high volumes of riders.







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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Figure 6: Diurnal pattern of rides by U-PASS holders



50.00%





40.00% 40.08%

Rides per Semester









30.00% 27.71%

28.71%

24.87%

22.22%

20.00% 20.28%

19.40%





10.00% 9.47%



3.90% 3.37%

0.00%

6 AM-9 AM 9 AM-3 PM 3 PM-6 PM 6 PM-9 PM 9 PM-6 AM

Time of Day



♦ Weekday ■ Weekend









U-PASS Use Patterns

The U-PASS first came to UIC in the fall of 2001 for undergraduate

students. The addition of the graduate students from the Graduate

College, College of Pharmacy, and School of Public Health started in

fall 2002. On August 5th 2004, the Regional Transit Authority Board

approved an agreement for Pace buses to accept all CTA fare cards,

including the U-PASS. This was discontinued January 1, 2009. The

renewal of the U-PASS program and nonrefundable CTA

transportation fee included undergraduate students and graduate

students from the Graduate College, College of Pharmacy, School of

Public Health, and Doctorate of Physical Therapy program, as well as

the addition of College of Dentistry students and the M1 and M2

students from the College of Medicine beginning fall 2005. College of

Medicine students voted 72% in favor of having the U-PASS available

to all classes beginning summer 2007. Every year the students must

vote on a referendum each April to approve the U-PASS for the

following year. It continues to have strong support.



The student U-PASS program has been a successful application of a

transit program to assist in student mobility. Table 3 shows the

frequency distribution of rides taken per semester using U-PASS.

More than 60 percent of UIC U-PASS users are “moderate intensity

users” who ride the transit system between 32 and 106 times per

semester. About 18% are “high intensity users” who ride the system

106 times per semester. Only 5% of U-PASS holders are non-users

(never used the transit system at all during a semester).



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Table 3: Frequency distribution of respondents by rides taken per semester using U-PASS







Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent



Non-Users (0 rides per semester) 164 5.30 5.30



Low Intensity Users (0106 rides

556 17.82 100.00

per semester)

Total 3,117 100.00







U-PASS users were asked for reasons why they used the U-Pass and

the non-users were asked for reasons for which they did not use the

U-Pass. Given below, in Figures 7 and 8 are the reasons outlined by

students for both using and not using U-Pass respectively.



Reasons such as ease of use and overall convenience have the

highest ratings as reasons for using the U-Pass. These are followed

by reduced expenditure on parking and current high parking costs, no

need to carry change for transit and reduction in traffic and

congestion. Thus, in the minds of the users, transit service related

factors rank low when it comes to their playing a part in U-Pass usage

and convenience to the user ranks higher.



On the other hand, when it comes to reasons for not using the U-

Pass, excessive waiting times for buses/trains has the highest rating.

This is followed by availability of a private vehicle at all times, transit

being too slow and limited service at night. Therefore, non-users of

the U-Pass regard drawbacks in transit service as an important

reason for not using transit. Also, the availability of a private vehicle

plays an important role.









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy







Figure 7: Reasons for using U-PASS





I 6.10





H 5.76

Reason for Using the U-Pass









G 6.79





F 8.16





E 7.01





D 8.51





C 8.27





B 7.43





A 8.50



0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9



Average Rating



A: Overall convenience E: Fast and reliable transit service

B: To avoid traffic and congestion F: No need to carry change

C: Reduction in expenditure on parking/ G: Environmental reasons

high parking costs H: It provides health benefits

D: Ease of use I: Lack of any other options









Figure 8: Reasons for not using U-PASS







J 5.69



I 4.88

Reason for Not Using the U-Pass









H 4.76



G 3.71



F 6.32



E 4.78



D 6.08



C 4.84



B 5.09



A 6.20



0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mean Rating



A: A private vehicle is available for me all the F: Waiting time for buses/ trains is excessive

time G: Transit service is not available in my area

B: I require a private vehicle for the various H: Safety concerns

trips that I take during the day I: CTA stations and buses are not clean

C: Transit is too crowded J: Service at night is very limited

D: Transit is too slow

E: I need to transfer too many times



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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Parking and Transit Benefit Use

UIC has a total of 41 parking lots with 11,944 parking spaces in the

East and West campuses combined, with a foot print of 43.7 acres.

UIC Parking Services is a self-supporting entity that uses its revenue

solely to plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain parking

facilities at the University. The parking program also absorbs the

displacement costs for surface lots used for academic buildings.

State funds made available to the University are not used to subsidize

departmental operations nor pay the fees for its users. Daily parking

utilization is approximately 64% (81% west campus, 50% east

campus). The medical community parking needs affords the university

opportunity to allocate parking space more efficiently.



UIC Parking costs for Keycard parking for FY09:



 $67.74/month for an unreserved stall

 $109.64/month for a reserved stall

 $45.42/month for nights only



The daily rate in a parking facility is $10 and Pavilion event parking is

$10-13 per event. Coupons are available in packages of 100 and 10

at that provide a small discount to the daily rate. Units will often

purchase a reciprocal parking pass for employees that need to work

frequently on the “other” side of campus. On an annual basis this

comes to $156. The cost of parking is much lower than in downtown

Chicago. The Chicago Tribune, in August of 2007, identified the

average monthly parking rate in the city of Chicago as $350, with a

median daily rate of $28.00. Parking prices have since increased.



Special events on campus can generate 100% parking lot utilization in

the parking areas close to the venue. Parking utilization per lot is

shown in the following tables.









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy









Table 4: Parking Facility Information East Campus



UIC Parking Facility Information East (& South) Campus

Total Utilization

Lot Name Address Lot Type Stalls #Assigned Percentage

1A 1109 W. Harrison Card Access 456 426 93.42%

1B 1139 W. Harrison Card Access, Visitor 414 316 76.33%





Card Access, Visitor,Pay per

4 Polk 761 W. Polk Space- 60, (inc. in space count) 93 0





Card Access, Visitor, Meter- 35,

5 1135 S. Morgan Motorcycle- 13 846 740 87.47%

6 1135 S. Halsted Card Access 364 167 45.88%

8 401 S. Peoria Reserved 18 16 88.89%

9/9A 501 S. Morgan Card Access, Visitor 353 184 52.12%

10 900 W. Taylor Reserved 67 45 67.16%

11 1055 W. Congress Pkwy. Card Access 139 118 84.89%

12 808 S. Clinton Card Access 22 10 45.45%

14 1245 S. Newberry Card Access, Visitor 127 0

14 729 W. Rochford Visitor 153 0

18A 1215 W. Congress Pkwy. Card Access, Meter- 36 68 0

20 1101 W. Taylor Card Access 10 8 80.00%

HRPS 1100 W. Harrison Card Access, Visitor 1237 764 61.76%

HTPS 760 W. Taylor Card Access, Visitor 1513 1,394 92.13%

MSPS 701 W. Maxwell Card Access, Visitor 647 262 40.49%









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Table 5: Parking Facility Information West Campus







UIC Parking Facility Information West Campus

Total # Parking

Lot Name Address Lot Type Stalls Assigned Utilization

Percentage

A3 1934 W. Taylor Card Access 60 66 110.00%



A4 1937 W. Taylor Card Access 75 61 81.33%



AOB 860 S. Paulina Card Access 9 0.00%

Card Access-

B2 900 S. Wolcott Disabled, Visitors 54 0.00%



B4 1836 W. Grenshaw Card Access 65 65 100.00%



C1 805 S. Wolcott Reserved 29 22 75.86%

Card Access,

Visitor,Dialysis- 25

C4 1119 S. Wolcott (included in space 118 142 120.34%

Reserved, Card

E 820 S. Paulina Access, Visitor 314 248 78.98%



E4 1121 S. Hermitage Card Access 29 22 75.86%



F 901 S. Paulina Card Access 94 77 81.91%



F4 1135 S. Paulina Card Access 66 71 107.58%



G 921 S. Marshfield Card Access 191 216 113.09%



G4 1138 S. Ashland Card Access 31 27 87.10%



H 1101 S. Paulina Card Access 95 91 95.79%

Card Access,Meters-

J 1637 W. Taylor 10 110 103 93.64%



K 1617 W. Taylor Card Access 80 93 116.25%



L 1818 W. Taylor Visitors 6 0.00%

Card Access, Meters=

17: 9 on Washburne, 8

M 1728 W. Washburne in lot 229 247 107.86%



N1 713 S. Wood Card Access 25 21 84.00%



O 1210 S. Wood Card Access 116 131 112.93%



W3 2030 W. Polk Card Access 52 50 96.15%



W4 1007 S. Hoyne Card Access 33 37 112.12%



W5 1022 S. Hoyne Card Access 118 142 120.34%

Card Access,

PSPS 915 S. Paulina Visitor 1,124 1,577 140.30%

Card Access,

WSPS 1100 S. Wood Visitor 2,310 2,442 105.71%

Meters (inc. in

Wood St. Mtr 1019 S. Wood space count) 58 0 N/A







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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy







Data provided by Parking Services is displayed in Figures 9, 10 and

11. Parking permits charts show the change in the number of permit

holders by certain classifications for the years FY01-09. There has

been a 33% overall decrease in permit holders. This decrease is

particularly evident for students (230%) and aligns with the

implementation of the U-PASS program in 2001 on campus.

Residents also show a significant reduction in parking use (25%),

although they do not have access to the U-PASS. The other

categories have remained fairly constant, given change in population.

During the years 2004 to 2008, the overall population of students

increased 8.7% and the population of faculty and staff increased 5%.



An interesting comparison can be made between the east and west

side data. There has been a 38% decrease among non-academic

employee parking permits on the east side, whereas there has been a

slight increase on the west side. This may be partially due to the

reduction in non-academic employees of the years.





Figure 9: Total Parking Assignments by User Type





Total Parking Assignments

by User Type

7000



6000

Number of Parking









5000 Students

Assignments









Residents

4000

Academic

3000 Non-Academic



2000 Nurses





1000



0

02



03



04



05



06



07



08



09

01

20



20



20



20



20



20



20



20



20









Fiscal Year









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Figure 10: Parking Assignment by Location, East Side







Parking Assignment by Location

N umber of P arking EAST SIDE



6000

A ssignments





5000

4000 Students

3000 Academic

2000 Non-Academic

1000

0

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

20

20

20

20

20

20









20

20

20

Fiscal Year





Figure 11: Parking Assignments by Location, West Side





Parking Assignments by Location

WEST SIDE



2500

Students

Assignments









2000

Number of









Residents

1500

Academic

1000

Non-Academic

500 Nurses

0

02









08



09

01







03



04



05



06



07

20



20









20

20

20









20



20



20



20









Fiscal Year







The Pre-Tax Qualified Transportation Program is based on a revision

in the Internal Revenue Service Code that allows benefits eligible

employees to realize income tax savings by paying for commuting

expenses with pre-tax dollars. There is no direct benefit to the

university since employees that participate in the program do not pay

FICA. The Transit Benefit is managed through Parking Services. The







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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





estimated annual administrative cost for the Transit Benefit Program

is $60,786. The transit benefit chart (Figure 12) describes the change

in number of subscribers to the program for years FY02-09. The

Academic designation includes faculty and academic professionals.

Non-academic includes civil service staff. The number of academic

participants has increased 233% while the number of non-academic

participants has increased only 26%. During the years 2004 to 2008

the faculty and staff population has increased 5%.



Figure 12: Transit Benefit Participation





Transit Benefit Participation



1000

Total Participation









800 Academic

600 Participants

400 Non-Academic

Participants

200

0

02



03



04



05



06



07



08



09

20



20



20



20



20



20



20



20



Fiscal Year









Campus Fleet

The Department of Transportation and Grounds under Facilities

Management operates the campus fleet. It participates in the Illinois

Green Fleets Program. The Illinois Green Fleets Program is a

voluntary program where businesses, government units, and other

organizations in Illinois gain recognition and additional marketing

opportunities for having clean, green, domestic, renewable, American

fuel vehicles in their fleet. It is a program to recognize a fleet

manager's progressive efforts in using environmentally friendly

vehicles and fuels to improve air quality while promoting our domestic

fuels for greater national energy security.

(http://www.illinoisgreenfleets.org/fact-sheet.html#1). In addition, there

is a Federal requirement that 70% of new vehicle acquisitions must be

flex-fuel vehicles so the department has been purchasing a

combination of hybrids and E-85 flex-fuel vehicles. UIC has been

meeting that requirement.



In Fall 2008, the campus fleet was comprised of 233 vehicles

including 4 biofuel (CNG) grounds trucks, 10 CNG buses, 2 CNG







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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





vans, 3 diesel buses, 24 other diesel vehicles, 26 E-85 vehicles, 4

hybrid Ford Escapes, 1 hybrid Malibu, 5 hybrid Priuses, and the

remainder are gasoline powered vehicles. UIC operates its own

garage and fueling station that supplies gasoline, diesel, and

compressed natural gas (CNG). There is no E-85 tank so gasoline is

utilized in the E-85 vehicles. Some of the buses operate on natural

gas. However, due to high maintenance costs, more recently

purchased buses have used diesel. Fleet fuel consumption is

displayed in Figure 13. Since FY2006 there has been a slight

decrease in fuel consumption. The sharp increase is natural gas

consumption between 2005 and 2006 is due to differing sources in

data, as the meter on the natural gas tank was not functioning

properly.

Figure 13: UIC Fleet Fuel Consumption



UIC Fleet Fuel Consumption







140,000 7,000



120,000 6,000

MMBtu

100,000 5,000



Gasoline Fleet

Gallons









80,000 4,000

Diesel Fleet

60,000 3,000 Natural Gas Fleet



40,000 2,000



20,000 1,000



- -

2005 2006 2007 2008

Fiscal Year







The campus shuttle system is comprised of several routes that are

funded through various mechanisms:



 The intercampus shuttle system runs a circuitous route, 7-days

a week between the east and west sides of campus and

surrounding neighborhoods. It is serves faculty, staff and

students at no charge and is funded by Facilities Management.

The frequency and routing various slightly depending on the

time of day and whether it is a weekday or weekend and

whether classes are in session.

 The semester express primarily serves the students living in

the south campus residence halls and has limited stops,

running twice an hour during peak travel times during the week

when classes are in session. This route is funded by Campus

Auxiliary Services.

 The UIC Commuter Buses operate between the UIC campus,

Union and Northwestern Train Stations at scheduled times







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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





during the work week. Riders pay a $2.00 per trip fare that

must be purchased in packets of 10 tickets. This route

designed to be self-supporting.

 The Red Car/Off-Hour Paratransit Service is an escort service

that provides transportation to university employees, students,

visitors, and other authorized individuals between university

facilities and from university facilities to points of public

transportation, or to private residences within a designated

area. This route is funded by Facilities Management.

 On-campus Paratransit Service is available seven days a

week for students, faculty and staff with disabilities. This route

is funded by Facilities Management.



Records of ridership for all the routes were reviewed for the years

FY01 to FY07. With the exception of the Red Car and the Paratransit

services, there has been a steady decrease in ridership on these

services (See Tables 6 to 9). This is most likely attributed to the

introduction of the U-Pass on campus making multiple routes

available to students. Also, the availability of the Metra Link pass with

routes from campus to the Metra stations, decreased frequency of

service, and the increased cost of the Commuter Shuttle has probably

contributed to the reduction in passengers.



Table 6: Daytime Intercampus, Total Passengers



DAYTIME INTERCAMPUS TOTAL PASSENGERS



FY07

FISCAL YEAR









FY05





FY03





FY01



0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000









Table 7: Evening Intercampus, Total Passengers



EVENING INTERCAMPUS TOTAL PASSENGERS





FY07

FISCAL YEAR









FY05





FY03





FY01



0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000 160000 180000 200000









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Table 8: Commuter Shuttle, Total Passengers



COMMUTER SHUTTLE TOTAL PASSENGERS



FY07



FISCAL YEAR

FY05





FY03





FY01



0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000









Table 9: Weekend and Holiday Intercampus, Total Passengers





WEEKEND AND HOLIDAY INTERCAMPUS TOTAL PASSENGERS



FY07



FY06

FISCAL YEAR









FY05



FY04



FY03



FY02



FY01



0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000









Grounds Data

Implementation of environmentally sustainable grounds operation

practices is predicated on the campuses ability to measure and

quantify the cost benefits. Collection of baseline data and ongoing

analysis of this data will facilitate accountability, identify ‘hot spots’ in

grounds operations and provide a method for identifying and

prioritizing future projects.



UIC has over 5100 trees and 90.7 acres of green space. UIC has

begun to utilize some sustainable grounds and landscaping

practices. UIC has installed a cistern to capture run-off from the roof

on the UIC Forum and the water will be utilized to irrigate the

plantings in the area. In 2008, a green roof was installed on the

Architecture and Arts Building and another green roof is planned for

the Behavioral Sciences Building in summer 2009. UIC collects all

landscaping waste for off-site composting. Typically, 150-200 tons of

landscape material is composted. Irrigation has been reduced over

the years, primarily due to budget cuts that don’t allow proper







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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





maintenance of irrigation systems. Native species and plants that are

suitable for Illinois climate without irrigation are being used near

recent and new construction such as the east Recreation Center and

Lincoln Hall.



Evaluation and benchmarking improvements in environmental quality

include the following:



1) Inventory grounds equipment owned and contracted, fuel

consumption, supplies such as fertilizer, snow-melt, pesticides,

2) Identify equipment replacement options and guidelines for future

purchase

3) Perform air, water, soil testing

4) Calculate costs for mowing, trimming, labor, equipment and

supplies for tree planting, maintenance and removal, value of

volunteer labor (# of hours × $18), contributions from student or

civic organizations; maintenance of campus tree inventory, tree

management and public education related to the campus tree

care plan, professional training, and dues for related association

memberships

5) Amount of water for used for irrigation or frequency and location

of irrigation sites



Primary Data Collection Effort

 Tree Campus USA and Tree Care Plan









Performance on STARS Standards

The Sustainability Tracking and Rating Assessment (STARS)

developed through a collaborative effort by the Association for

Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) is

comprised of a credit system for sustainable operations. In the

category of transportation UIC meets some of the criteria but could

achieve more points.



 Currently, the institution’s motorized fleet emits 0.2 carbon dioxide

equivalent (CO2e) per passenger mile traveled, achieving one

point. We could achieve 2 points by having no CO2e per

passenger mile traveled (carbon neutral fleet).



 Another credit is given for having a specified percentage of the

institution's faculty, staff and students getting to and from campus

by a means other than single occupancy vehicle for the majority of

their daily trips. Alternatives to single-occupancy vehicle

transportation include walking, bicycling, van or carpooling, taking

public transportation, or riding a campus shuttle. Currently, 76% of





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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





the campus community gets to and from campus by alternate

means, giving us two points which is given to an institution that

has more than 50% of the institution’s population primarily using

preferable modes of transportation. We could achieve 3 points if

more than 95% of institution’s population primarily would use

preferable modes of transportation.



We have not achieved credits for commuter options by meeting the

criteria for being recognized by the Best Workplaces for Commuters

program. This credit recognizes institutions with strong programs in

place to encourage employees to use preferable modes of

transportation. The National Standard of Excellence in commuter

benefits, developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is

used to determine whether employers qualify for designation under

the Best Workplaces for Commuters program. To encourage their

employees to bike, walk, carpool, or take mass transit to and from

campus, institutions can implement a variety of programs, incentives,

and facilities. Examples of such tools include transit subsidies, bicycle

facilities, awards programs, and parking incentives for carpoolers. UIC

has some of these programs in place but would need more incentives

to meet these criteria.



We also have not achieved the credit for an Organic Campus which

requires the institution to apply to its grounds only pesticides and

fertilizers that are allowable under the U.S. Department of

Agriculture’s standards for organic crop production. We would be

more likely to utilize Integrated Pest Management in the near term (a

Tier 2 credit).



Another STARS criterion relates to the percentage of irrigation water

needs met with non-potable water. An institution that gets 50% of its

needs met gets one point and 100% non-potable water for irrigation

gives 2 points. UIC does not currently use any non-potable water for

irrigation but will use some at the Forum from the cistern that will be

installed as soon as the plaza is completed. UIC does meet the

criteria for several Tier 2 credits including landscaping with native

species, inventorying and mapping all campus trees and other

landscape assets, and composting yard waste. UIC does not meet the

criteria for the following:

 Develop and implement a rainwater management plan to filter

and mitigate rainwater runoff

 Use permeable pavement

 Follow best management practices for snow and ice removal

 Is recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus

USA program

 Grass-cycles grass trimmings



Excerpts from UIC Campus Master Plan Phase I Draft report (4-14-

09)







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UIC Campus Master Plan Initial Findings

The UIC Campus Master Planning process began in the fall of 2008

and will continue for about 18 months. The Vision Statement for the

plan (dated November 26, 2008) states that:



The UIC Campus of the Future will be a public destination that

integrates the learning environment for scholarship with the urban

vitality of a global Chicago. At UIC, students, faculty, staff, alumni,

collaborators, visitors, neighbors, donors, friends, and potential

development partners and other stakeholders will experience a vibrant

campus – featuring sustainable buildings and landscapes – that

engages the learner, satisfies the curious, inspires the creative and

attracts the passerby.



Initial findings from the Phase I work that are relevant to this report

are as follows:



 Pedestrian Connection - A viable pedestrian corridor between

the east and west sides of UIC would improve the sense of

campus unity. However, as many reading this document will

know, walking from the center of one side of campus to the

other can take as long as thirty minutes. Hence, while a

pedestrian connection might still be sought, other means of

transportation will need to be re-established to make the

everyday trek between east and west work efficiently.



 Bike Lanes - The connections between the two sides of the

campus and between the campus and city could be enabled

through bike lanes.



 Bus Routes - UIC provides shuttle buses for students and

faculty to connect the east Side of campus to the west.

Presently, the routes of these buses are too circuitous to

provide an efficient connection and the buses are commonly

slow and late. Further, this diagram shows that the buses don’t

connect the centers of the two sides of campus; rather, the

buses concentrate on peripheral roads such as Harrison Street

and provide too many stops at “front doors” of buildings.

Opportunities for more efficient routes will be considered.



 CTA Bus Routes - CTA buses have routes that are far more

direct and efficient than those of the UIC busses. There could

be an opportunity to eliminate or reduce the UIC routes and

provide all UIC people with CTA passes for transport between

the two sides of campus. Additionally, the CTA routes prove

that bus transit is possible on direct roads between east and

west campus, such as Taylor Street.









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 CTA Trains - CTA trains are providing an efficient means of

transportation to campus from off-campus residential areas.

However, while CTA Trains offer a good opportunity to

connect each side of campus to the city through existing

infrastructure, they unfortunately do not provide a direct

connection between the east and west sides of campus

without first being routed through the Loop. Without some CTA

changes, this mode of public transportation is not viable for

connecting all sides of campus.



 Pedestrian Use of Open Space - West Side pedestrian

circulation is primarily along street sidewalks and

perpendicular mid-block alleys. Diagonal walkways occur in

interior courtyards at the center of the west Side. The heaviest

concentration of pedestrian circulation occurs along the Taylor

St sidewalk, between Wolcott and Paulina, corresponding with

the entrance to the UIC Medical Center. On the east side,

pedestrian routes weave through the campus from north to

south. The Blue Line “El” station at Peoria and the large

surface parking lots to the north and south are the origin of

most foot traffic. These patterns roughly align with the

removed Netsch ‘walkways’. Concentrated diagonal foot traffic

occurs between the BSB and the Quad, before merging with

north-south pedestrians heading further south to the Physical

Education building on Roosevelt Road. The east side

perimeter is bound by arterial streets that discourage

pedestrians from using sidewalks and consolidate foot traffic to

the campus interior.



 Open Space Opportunities- Initial analysis of the open space

issues suggested preliminary opportunities for improving the

campus landscape. These bulleted opportunities vary from

replacing pavement with lawn to adding or subtracting

buildings. The itemized opportunities may contradict one

another for a particular area with the objective of considering

widely divergent scenarios for improvement. These scenarios

will be explored in greater detail in future phases of the master

plan.









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Summary of Major Findings

Assets and Services

 UIC has a total of 41 parking lots with 11,944 parking spaces

in the east and west campuses combined.

 UIC offers a variety of transportation services, including

Intercampus shuttle buses between the east, west and south

campuses, on-campus paratransit service for persons with

disabilities, the Red Car/Off-Hour Paratransit Service, a

Chauffeur service is also available and commuter buses which

operate between the campus and major commuter train

stations.

 The campus is strategically located with several city bus

routes and train services that operate through the heart of

campus.

 Campus fleet vehicles include those used for Campus Auto

Rental Service, the campus police, and vehicles used for on-

site operations and maintenance.

 Currently, the institution’s motorized fleet emits 0.2 carbon

dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per passenger mile traveled,

achieving one point.

 UIC draws hundreds of thousands of business and academic

visitors, special events attendees and patients annually, to

various facilities across campus.



Demand Patterns

 Overall, less than 25% of UIC faculty, students and staff who

responded to the UIC Office of Sustainability Commute

Survey, reported that they drive the entire commute to

campus.

 A little over half (55.4%) of the survey respondents use one

mode of transportation to commute to UIC and the average

distance traveled is 11 miles.

 Approximately 44.6% of the survey respondents use two or

more transportation modes to get to UIC. The average

distance traveled for those using two modes is 20 miles; for

those using three modes, 28 miles.

 Close to 38% of faculty and staff reside in zipcodes where the

transit availability is generally ‘excellent’ to ‘good’. Close to

40% reside in areas within the six counties that have

‘excellent’ pedestrian amenities; another 25% or so reside in

areas with ‘good’ values of pedestrian accessibility.

Employees residing in such areas, who are currently solo

drivers to campus, may be considered for incentives,

information and marketing to occasionally use transit to

campus.







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 Overall, there are enough ‘spatially clustered’ groups of faculty

and staff to whom transit is not available. Employees in these

spatially clustered groups may be better served with express

buses, vanpools, carpools and other high occupancy modes.

 Almost 20% of UIC students live within 2 miles of campus and

about 35% live within 5 miles. In FY2007, 3,109 students

resided in campus housing in the east, south or west sides.

 Close to 90% of UIC students have a valid driver’s license and

about 72% have a private vehicle available to them.

 More than 60% of UIC U-PASS users are ‘moderate intensity

users’ who ride the transit system between 32 and 106 times

per semester. About 18% are ‘high intensity users’ who ride

the system 106 times per semester. Only 5% of U-PASS

holders are non-users (never used the transit system at all

during a semester).

 There has been a 230% decrease in parking permits issued to

students since the implementation of the U-PASS. There has

been a 38% decrease among non-academic employee parking

permits on the east side, whereas on the while there has been

a slight increase on the west side.

 Daily parking utilization is approximately 64% (81% west

campus, 50% east campus). The medical community parking

needs affords the university opportunity to allocate parking

space more efficiently. Special events on campus can

generate 100% parking lot utilization in the parking areas close

to the venue.

 The number of academic participants in the transit benefit

program has increased 233% while the number of non-

academic participants has increased only 26%.

 In terms of schedules, staff and part-time students have the

most predictable schedules. Faculty members tend to be on

campus during the business day with a somewhat varied

schedule, while full-time students have the greatest schedule

variety, with more than 25% stating that their schedules vary

considerably.





STARS Standards



 Currently, the institution’s motorized fleet emits 0.2 carbon

dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per passenger mile traveled,

achieving one point. We could achieve 2 points by having no

CO2e per passenger mile traveled (carbon neutral fleet).

 Another credit is given for having a specified percentage of the

institution's faculty, staff, and students getting to and from

campus by a means other than single occupancy vehicle for

the majority of their daily trips. Alternatives to single-

occupancy vehicle transportation include walking, bicycling,

van or carpooling, taking public transportation, or riding a





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campus shuttle. Currently, 76% of the campus community gets

to and from campus by alternate means, giving us two points

which is given to an institution that has more than 50% of the

institution’s population primarily using preferable modes of

transportation. We could achieve 3 points if more than 95% of

institution’s population primarily would use preferable modes

of transportation.

 UIC does not meet any Tier 1 STARS credits in the grounds

area however it does meet the criteria for several Tier 2 credits

including landscaping with native species, inventorying and

mapping all campus trees and other landscape assets, and

composting yard waste. UIC could achieve more points by

having an Organic Campus and using non-potable water for

irrigation.









Recommendations

On the basis of the findings, the subcommittee makes the following

recommendations:



Recommendations for Transportation

Transportation Demand

There are numerous strategies that can be utilized to increase

sustainable mode use in the UIC campus.



1. Boosting bicycle usage: Given that a large number of

students and many faculty and staff live less than 5 miles from

campus, the possibility of boosting bicycle usage should be

explored. We recommend the following:



 Encourage and support a campus Bicycle Advisory

Council to inform and guide bicycle infrastructure and

programs on campus.



 Disseminate bicycle-related information more widely:

Like the UIC parking maps, electronic maps of where

bike facilities are located throughout campus are

available. This resource should be made known to UIC

students and staff via the Internet and should be included

in all orientation programs.



 Make the federal Bike Benefit program available to the

campus community.









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





 Expand bicycle programs and amenities: UIC should

investigate the possibility of expanding bike racks at

strategic locations throughout campus, implementing a

bicycle rental/sharing program and increasing lockers

and showers. The Chicago Department of

Transportation’s Bike Program should be leveraged for

this purpose.



 Expand bike lane network: UIC should consider

expanding the number of bike lanes near campus.

CMAP’s CMAQ program and the CDOT programs can

be leveraged for this purpose.



 Develop and adopt a Bicycle Plan for campus,

integrating it with the City of Chicago Bike Plan and the

UIC Master Plan.



 Develop secure, destination-oriented bicycle parking

areas on campus to mitigate theft. Opportunities for grant

funding should be pursued.



 Experiment with advanced technologies to boost user

confidence with the bike mode: The work being

conducted by the CTS IGERT and UTC on advanced

technologies for non-motorized transportation, including

routing based on the user’s safety and security

preferences may be undertaken as a demonstration

project to boost bicycle usage and to encourage a far

greater number of individuals to use these modes of

transportation to and around campus.





2. Promote and expand UIC Transportation Benefit Program:

The Transportation Benefit Program is a valuable resource

offered to employees of the UIC. Under the Internal Revenue

Service Code, it allows benefits eligible employees to realize

income tax saving by paying for commuting expenses with pre-

tax dollars.



Currently, the program operates by deducting monthly a pre-

selected amount from the employee’s paycheck for “qualified

transportation expenses.” This resource also serves the

University by saving on payroll taxes.



In 2003, the ‘UIC Transit Check User Survey’ was conducted,

which outlined the positives and negatives which enrolled

employees who completed the survey perceived to be

associated with the program.









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As of 2009, the Transportation Benefit Program reports 1005

University employees listed as enrolled in the program.

As of March 2009, the new federal stimulus package has

increased the maximum benefit for the program from $120 to

$230 per employee. There is also a bicycle transit benefit

available for up to $20 per employee. We recommend:



 Expanding the program to the new limit of $230.



 Expanding the program by increasing the number of

price points (currently $30, $50, $65, $75 or $120).



 Allow pre-tax program participants to utilize the benefit

for more than one transportation provider. (E.g. one

voucher for CTA and one voucher for Metra).



 Implementing the bicycle transit benefit program.



 Updating and redistributing a Transit Check User Survey

to assess current strengths and weaknesses of the

program.



 Promoting awareness of the program through print ads in

the UIC Flame newspaper, flyers, listserv messages, etc.



 Hosting information sessions at UIC

orientations/independent transportation information

sessions to increase education and enrollment





3. Transit stops and amenities: The quality of transit stops can

greatly improve or deter the propensity to use transit. We

recommend:



 The quality, surroundings, access paths, lighting and

safety of transit amenities and stops should be improved,

so that UIC faculty, staff and students are comfortable

with transit at all times.



 The UIC Halsted CTA station could be used as a

demonstration of a Passenger Mobility Hub, with

concessions, better waiting area conditions, bike

rental/sharing possibilities, better lighting and as a hub

for shuttle buses, CTA buses and taxis.



 Security and patrolling of transit stops should be

improved.









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





4. Alternatives to air travel: This is a market that has to be

carefully segmented – most likely by trip distance. We

recommend:



 Faculty and staff should be encouraged to substitute

driving their conventional vehicles or flying to short

distance destinations, such as to Springfield, IL or other

Midwest locations. Hybrid rental vehicles, AMTRAK,

Greyhound or MegaBus, may substitute these trips.



 A comprehensive review of the policies and practices

that enable videoconferencing and promotion of

videoconferencing to the campus community



 Evaluate the costs of teleconferencing for participants

(such as long distance toll charges) and explore

opportunities to increase usage. Promote

teleconferencing to the campus community.





5. Education and Outreach: In providing an outlet for faculty and

staff to become informed on transit benefits and alternatives,

UIC can insure that its employees will be more inclined to

choose a sustainable transportation mode in making their

commute to work and in other parts of their daily lives. We

recommend:



 Host a table at the UIC Employee Benefits Fair,

incorporating representatives from PACE, Metra, CTA

and UIC.



 Hold quarterly UIC-sponsored information sessions for

employee education.



 Institute regular mailings, flyers, posters to be posted and

distributed on campus and to UIC employees homes.



 Provide free trial transit passes to encourage ridership.



 Create comprehensive transportation website with

information regarding alternative transit resources (i.e.,

cost calculator, trip planner, rideshare info, etc.)





6. Ride-sharing: Many UIC employees and students already

informally carpool with neighbors also working in or near UIC or

colleagues who live close by or along the way. This concept

may be broadened to a wider group of UIC employees, who

may not personally know anyone living nearby or along the





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way, who wishes to carpool to UIC. A more formal approach,

using ridematching, is ridesharing. Ridematching is a

computerized service that allows commuters find other

commuters who want to start or join a carpool or vanpool.

Ridematching programs have proven to be a successful

method of reducing carbon footprints, as well as easing the

stresses of commuting to work for employees in both

educational institutions and other work environments. We

recommend that the following services be explored for the UIC

community:



 Promote existing rideshare opportunities, such as the

program provided by Pace, as an interim rideshare

program.



 Ridematching as an online service: By creating a

comprehensive ridematching website and survey, UIC

can offer consistency, flexibility and security to its

employees. The system can connect UIC faculty/staff to

carpooling possibilities in their communities. Ridematch

21 is a Chicago-based system and GoLoCo is a national

system that has been successful in generating carpools.

A key reason why many individuals are hesitant to use

ridematched carpools is that they may have to share a

ride with complete strangers who they may not be

comfortable with. A possibility to ensure confidence in

the system is to have employees screen those with

whom they would agree to share a ride.



 Real-time, dynamic ridematching systems using wireless

technologies: As a long-term strategy, a demonstration

project should be attempted to operationalize real-time,

dynamic Ridematching systems using Personal Digital

Assistants, cell phones and other mobile devices, using

Mobile Ad-Hoc Network Technology and other

technologies using peer-to-peer systems and wireless

communications methods. Such technologies are being

experimented with as a part of the Computation

Transportation Science IGERT Ph.D. program. Again the

issue of having a trusted entity operating the system

would entail that users are given an opportunity to opt-in

and that potential ride-sharers are agreeable to the

individual seeking a ride. Social networks may be utilized

to fully implement such technologies. A full-scale

demonstration project could position UIC in the lead as

supporters of innovative technology that attempts to

“make it easy” for commuters to use sustainable, higher-

occupancy modes of transportation.









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 Occasional Ride Program: The Occasional Ride Program

is one that allows faculty, staff and students to

occasionally have access to preferred parking on

campus, in exchange that they agree to find alternative,

sustainable options as their primary mode of

transportation. This program allows flexibility for

individuals and promotes mass transit ridership.



For subscribers of the Occasional Ride program, we

recommend:

1. Create preferred parking for occasional

users.

2. Provide parking cashouts for members

who use alternative transportation

modes.

3. Increase parking pass and daily user

costs.

4. Provide priority parking for car and van

pools.





7. Guaranteed Ride Home programs: In addition to security

issues that deter individuals from using carpools and the like,

the question of how employees would get back home in the

event of an emergency is another major deterrent. Guaranteed

Ride Home (otherwise known as GRH) provides commuters

who regularly vanpool, carpool, bike, walk, or take transit with a

reliable ride home when unexpected emergencies arises. We

recommend the following:



 Immediate Seek CMAQ funds: UIC should explore the

possibility of obtaining funds for the GRH from the

Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAP),

a federally funded program that is operated in

Northeastern Illinois by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency

(CMAP).



 Terms of usage: UIC commuters should be able to use

GRH for personal emergencies and unscheduled

overtime up to four times per year or up to $100 per year.



 Price and fee structure: The ride home by cab, rental car,

bus or train is free (excluding gratuity, fuel and insurance

charges).





8. Evaluate the Role of UIC Parking Services. Since Parking

Services is a self-supporting enterprise, any revenue it makes

must be reinvested in the parking lot enterprise. Further, it





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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





cannot receive university support to manage other programs,

such as the transit benefit program. Parking Services is in the

process of reviewing agencies, including the Fringe Benefit

Management company in order to outsource this program

which costs more than $60,000/year to administer. We

recommend:



 Relieving Parking Services of the management of the

Transit Benefit program.





9. Travel training to faculty/staff and students: The above

items provide passive and un-customized travel information to

potential users. Transit agencies around the country have

started programs by means of which prospective transit riders,

who meet certain criteria, are given training and hands-on

experience with the transit alternatives in a region. Such an

approach should be undertaken in UIC, to provide incentives

and to “break the ice” with respect to travel alternatives. We

recommend:



 Developing a travel training flyer for orientations and for

use as campus resource.



 New faculty, staff and students may be given a packet of

information on transportation options in the region and on

campus, as a part of orientation. This information should

be disseminated at campus benefits fairs and other

appropriate venues.



 Interested employees and students may be imparted

hands-on transit use training, from tickets options that

may be availed of, to planning trips online and actually

boarding and disembarking from transit vehicles. Similar

programs may be provided about how car-sharing

programs or bike rental works. Training may also be

provided to use the proposed online resources, in order

to maximize the use of alternative methods of

transportation.





10. Aggressively seek federal/state grant money: Numerous

federal and state funds exist which can be used specifically and

broadly to implement transportation initiatives for the university.

With the new administration’s focus on the importance of

sustainability, institutions like UIC can expect to see more mass

transit-friendly initiatives, which the University can take

advantage of to fund innovative and sustainable transportation

alternatives.







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Additionally, monies that are in existence may currently be

under-realized. In this respect, the University should seek to

more diligently pursue funds that can offset the cost of

implementing many of our prescribed recommendations. We

recommend:



 Actively and consistently seek out and apply for federal

and regional (PACE/Metra/CTA/IDOT) funding

assistance opportunities



 Use grant monies to fund the hiring of a transportation

coordinator to manage further transit alternative

initiatives





11. Specialized bus service: There are several neighborhoods

where there are enough UIC faculty and staff residents who

may be willing to commute to campus using specialized,

limited-stop bus service. Coordination with CTA or Pace will be

needed for this purpose. We recommend that the following

services be investigated for UIC faculty, students and staff:



 Express bus, with limited or no stops between the pick-

up point and drop off-point, is one such service. For UIC

employees who reside in low-income neighborhoods, the

Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program

administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) can be leveraged.

This program requires a 50% match. Other governmental

funding sources may also be used.



 Another alternative is subscription bus service.

Subscription bus services are developed when a special

need arises. Most subscription service is organized by

private groups, often in the face of restrictive regulatory,

legal and institutional constraints. Subscription routes

usually operate only during the morning and afternoon

rush periods, and have limited, if any, stops. Pace

Suburban Bus operates subscription services with

subscription fares which are $3.00 one way, and a $110

monthly pass.



 Initiate or continue discussion with CTA regarding

opportunities to increase service and/or reduce cost.





12. Shuttle Bus and Red Car services: The CTA Bus Tracker

system has improved the quality of the bus rider’s experience.









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





Similar technologies may be attempted for the Shuttle Bus and

Red Car service. We recommend:



 Analysis of shuttle routing to maximize efficiency and

service.



 A system using GPS devices be used to track the

locations of the UIC shuttle buses and red car services.



 Information on arrival times may be disseminated via the

internet, users’ PDAs, kiosks throughout campus and at

Wi-Fi hotspots.





13. Parking pricing: Subsidized employer parking is said to be

one of the major reasons why Travel Demand Management

strategies continue to fail. We define “subsidized” as the

practice of charging below the market rate for parking. There is

a great difference between the Chicago market rate for parking

and UIC rate for parking; the lower cost of parking at UIC is

interference in the market and the result is lost revenue; the

artificially low parking prices are a subsidy for parking which is

not extended to other transit modes. The discrepancy between

the subsidy allotted to parking and transit use should be

eliminated; “level the playing field” so to speak, for parity

between transportation modes and to allow market forces to

function. The subcommittee understands that increasing

parking fees may be politically difficult and inequitable in some

cases. We recommend that:



 Credits should be given to hybrid vehicle users, other

alternative fuel vehicle users and carpool users.



 Increasing parking pricing should be considered a long-

term, gradually-initiated policy.



 The campus may experiment with a variable parking

scheme. For prepaid parking users, an income-based

approach may be considered. For visitors, a time-of-day

scheme may be utilized.



 However, the above strategies are unlikely to lead to

user acceptance unless many of the travel options

recommended in this report are followed.



 Revenues raised from increased parking price may be

firewalled into a Transportation and Grounds Fund, to

support a variety of activities that would initiate improved

sustainability conditions.





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 Evaluate Parking Operations for both scale and scope of

practice and revenue sources, considering the

opportunity to include and fund functions such as secure

bike parking as well as the improved environmentally

friendliness of parking lots and stormwater management

techniques.





14. An Ozone Action Day is declared when weather conditions

are likely to combine with pollution emissions to form high

levels of ozone near the ground that may cause harmful health

effects. People and businesses should take action to reduce

emissions of ozone-causing pollutants. We recommend that

UIC participate in an Ozone Action Day awareness campaign

for summer 2009 by:



 Posting an e-mail alert of an Ozone Action Day via UIC

announcements and/or on UIC's home page (usually the

EPA releases the announcement the day before).



 Incorporating a web page that discusses Ozone Action

Days and what readers can do to reduce ground-level

ozone (e.g., taking transit, combine errands, etc.)



 Participating in and announcing Partners for Clean Air

events around the region (e.g., every year PCA has had

a campaign to win a Prius hybrid in their "Green Pays on

Green Days" program).



 Spearheading a campus campaign to reduce ground-

level ozone. This could incorporate all the

recommendations put forth in Sustainable Transportation

and Grounds report, but focused within a summer

timeframe (when Ozone Action Days typically occur).





15. Telecommuting and Compressed Work Week programs

reduce traffic congestion and impact air quality while improving

the productivity and morale of participating employees. These

programs can also be harnessed to conserve space and

reduce overhead costs. We recommend that UIC Human

Resources adopt a telecommute/compressed work week/flex-

time program and assess the results:



 Identify units or departments that can effectively and

efficiently implement telecommuting or compressed work

week programs.



 Develop a policy that supports and encourages these

strategies.





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 Implement and monitor the program in terms of

environmental impacts including trip reduction and

survey program participants regarding morale.



Energy and Vehicles

By participating in the Illinois Clean Fleet Program, UIC has moved

toward alternative, lower carbon emitting vehicles in the campus fleet.

There are opportunities to improve the efficiency of shuttle and bus

service on campus. We recommend:



 Based on analyses made by the Campus Master

Planning consultants, more direct routing of buses

should be implemented.



 Engage the CTA in discussions as to whether there are

opportunities to provide services to the entire campus

community in more economical ways by utilizing and

expanding on their existing bus routes.





 Continue to phase in hybrids and vehicles with higher

fuel economy for the campus fleet.



 Evaluate whether car-sharing options such as I-Go or

Zipcar could be utilized for campus travel purposes.





Recommendations for Grounds

An important and often overlooked forest resource in Illinois is the

State's urban and community forests. These are the trees and related

natural resources found in the State's 2,000 plus communities and

universities. These urban forests provide the environmental benefits

of cooling, storm water and erosion control, and water quality

protection while reducing water consumption in the communities

where over 80 percent of our population lives, works, and plays.

Urban forest are designed to stimulate the general structure and

ecosystem functions of naturally occurring forest communities of the

region, with a composition of species that may not necessarily

replicate the original forest of the area. Urban forestry programs

provide a foundation for enhancing urban forests through clearly

stated policies, procedures, and practices necessary to establish,

protect, maintain, and remove trees and plants on campus.



By implementing an urban forestry program, UIC can educate the

campus community on the benefits of trees, best practices in tree

care, and how collaboration between campuses and their surrounding









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communities results in a healthier and more sustainable environment

for everyone.



Implementation of environmentally sustainable grounds operation

practices is predicated on the campuses ability to measure and

quantify the cost and environmental benefits. Collection of baseline

data and ongoing analysis of this data will facilitate accountability,

identify “hot spots” in grounds operations and provide a method for

identifying and prioritizing future projects.



The objective of the Grounds aspect is to develop an integrated,

ecologically based landscape and open space system that achieves

environmental sustainability by improving grounds operations through

the adoption of an urban forestry program, completion of a campus

tree care plan and tree inventory and educational and outreach

activities. We recommend:





1. Establishment of a Grounds Advisory Committee to assist in

implementing the below listed tree and landscape guidelines.





2. Urban Forestry: Adoption of an urban forestry program, such as

Tree Campus USA that provides essential tools in supporting and

recognizing grounds managers’ efforts, addresses long-term

environmental sustainability and commits annual expenditures for

tree care on campus.



Development of a comprehensive campus tree program to include:



 A tree planting and management program to increase the

environmental benefits of cooling, enhanced storm water

management, erosion control and water quality

protection; increased species diversity, and reduced

water consumption and energy expenditure for grounds

maintenance.



 Completion of a campus tree care plan and tree

inventory to promote best tree management practices

and educate the next generation of tree stewards. The

completion of the plan will link to other green initiatives

on campus as well as the surrounding community.

Promote the plan to potential partners and funding

sources such as grantors and alumni groups. The

campus tree care plan will provide the framework for

developing the policies, procedures, and practices to

establish, protect, maintain, and remove trees on

campus.









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3. Utilization of the campus grounds as a resource for research,

education and outreach at all levels.



 Provide areas for research, education and passive

recreation on campus, such as community gardens.



 Create and sustain training and development programs

for the grounds crew and volunteer groups.



 Promote outreach and education that heightens public

awareness of the relationship between society and the

natural environment.



 Identify and obtain buy-in from campus facilities and

budget administrators for such major projects as storm

water management, use of porous pavements, and

LEED-certified building renovations, that, while beyond

the immediate range of funding and implementation, are

crucial to long-term environmental sustainability.



 Implementation of arboriculture practices, such as plant

selection, site preparation, planting and transplanting,

fertilizing, composting, staking, pruning, landscaping, and

tree maintenance and removal.



 Implementation of tree protection and preservation

policies, including procedures for new construction

projects; snow removal and salt alternatives; requiring

permeable and reflective surface alternatives in

landscape design; specifying prohibited practices, and

creating and disseminating a strategy to communicate

these policies.



 Establishment and maintenance of a digital campus tree

inventory for use in tree management (species selection

and diversity), campus planning, landscape guidelines

and academic and general public events.



 Establishment of an annual work plan that tracks and

documents expenditures and evidence that sufficient

funding has been dedicated to the work plan (UIC

dedicates annual funding for full-time employees,

contract labor, and the equipment and supplies used for

tree care.)





4. Sponsor outreach and educational events that engage

community and support long term strategies. We recommend:









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Report to UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy





 Campus events that celebrate the importance of

environmental stewardship and engage faculty, staff,

alumni, and student volunteer labor (worth an estimated

$18 per hour) to plant trees, shrubs, groundcover, and

flowers; apply mulch; pull weeds; pick up trash; teach,

and reduce costs.



 Workshops, lectures, classes, and other learning projects

that generate revenue by charging admission or a

registration fee while providing opportunities to engage

the campus and community in activities that demonstrate

the benefits of trees to the environment (Selling trees

through the National Arbor Day Foundation is another

opportunity to raise funds.)



 Assist Project Learning Tree or other programs centered

around trees in training teachers at schools near your

campus or organize training for your school’s College of

Education.



 Other tree-related service learning or educational

programs for students.



 Partnership with State forestry departments on regional

projects.



 Educational projects such as a Nature Explore

Classroom for young children at an early childhood

development center on your campus or in your

community.



 Establish campus arboreta.



 Create partnerships to manage community natural

resource.



 Implement long-term natural resource management in

the State's cities and towns by coordinating internships

with the urban forestry or parks department in your

community.





5. UIC should explore the possibility of obtaining funds for:



 Incorporating the development of the quality,

surroundings, access paths, lighting and safety of transit

amenities and stops into a sustainable landscape plan.









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 Hold quarterly UIC-sponsored information sessions on

progress of grounds initiatives and for employee

education.



 Institute regular mailings, flyers, posters to be posted and

distributed on campus and to UIC employees homes on

impact of landscape to the environment



 Hiring of a grounds coordinator to manage sustainable

landscape initiatives





6. Capture stormwater onsite; capturing stormwater onsite is one

way to reduce stormwater flow into Chicago’s combined

stormwater and wastewater sewer system. This water flows to the

Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation District plants where the

combined flow is treated as wastewater. However, when rainfall is

high the plants cannot process all the wastewater at once and it is

stored in the deep tunnel system. If the tunnel system capacity is

exceeded, then the combined stormwater and wastewater is

released untreated into Lake Michigan. We recommend:



 Utilize rain barrels or cisterns to capture run-off from

building roofs.



 Direct stormwater run-off from low-lying areas, near

driveways or in parking to bioswales and rain gardens.

That also reduces the amount of stormwater that must be

pumped and the energy required to pump it.



 Utilize green roofs. The rooftop gardens capture the rain

in their soil reducing the amount of run-off. In addition,

green roofs reduce the heat island effect and insulate the

buildings, reducing the energy needed to heat and cool

them.



 Install permeable pavement captures rain where it falls

and should be considered for use in parking lots

whenever feasible.





7. Composting: If composting can be done on-site at UIC, this

provides a rich source of organic material that can be used to

fertilize plantings and flower beds throughout the campus. We

recommend:



 Seek opportunities to fund a pilot composting program.









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8. Reduce/eliminate irrigation: The reduction or elimination of

irrigation, by planting species that are most suitable for UIC’s

climate and, perhaps, changing our expectations for how green

the grass needs to be can save both water and the energy

required to pump it. We recommend:



 If irrigation must be used, stormwater (or grey water)

applications should be considered.





9. Use native species: As mentioned above, planting species most

suitable for UIC’s climate such as native species reduces the need

for irrigation. It is becoming more and more common both in the

city and on campuses to find plantings that were grown before the

area was developed. In Illinois, these are generally prairie and

woodland (for shaded sites) plants. If managed well, these areas

can be quite beautiful and self-sustaining with very little

maintenance required. We recommend:



 Using native species





10. Integrated pest management

“Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and and

environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that

relies on a combination of common-sense practices. IPM

programs use current, comprehensive information on the life

cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. This

information, in combination with available pest control methods, is

used to manage pest damage by the most economical means,

and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the

environment. IPM takes advantage of all appropriate pest

management options including, but not limited to, the judicious

use of pesticides.”

(Source: http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/factsheets/ipm.htm). We

recommend:



 UIC should implement an integrated pest management

system:









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