Students worked their way through six different stations spread around Room 2222 in the Student Center Thursday, April 12 during the parking and transportation open house.
“We’ve been trying to get a transportation demand management studying being done on the campus for the last 5-6 years, so we’ve finally got that now,” Director of Parking Services Don Andre said. “We’re having meetings with different
Auburn University has hired Kimley-Horn, a consulting firm, to look at the transportation system at Auburn. The firm will look at everything from parking and Tiger Transits to bikes and crosswalks among many other things that fall into the transportation realm, Andre said.
Jeffery Smith, the project manager for Auburn for Kimley-Horn, was also present at the open house.
“I work with universities across the country,” Smith said. “We do this type of very specialized work in universities across the country.”
The goal is for Kimley-Horn to create a comprehensive, outside look at Auburn’s transportation system as a whole and make improvement suggestions that are assessable options to implement.
Before the open
Then, they created different stations throughout the room at the open house to allow the Kimley-Horn team to get more data on everything from overall transportation impressions to specific problem areas from students and faculty.
The first station was a “
“We are asking students, faculty
Attendees used colored pens and markers to draw their path to campus every day on their corresponding map, one for students and another for faculty and staff.
Attendees would take a numbered card and write a problem they see with transportation, anything from a need for a crosswalk to a broken street light, on the numbered card. Then attendees put a sticker corresponding to the number on the card on a map of the campus where the problem is located.
“We’re getting people to give us their biggest wish,” Smith said. “If they could have whatever they wanted, what would they have in regard to transportation.”
At the final station, attendees were given $100, and they had to designate what department or category within parking services they would designate the funds to. Attendees could split the money or put it all into one category.
“We’re going to get all sorts of feedback,” Andre said. “The study group will take all this data as well as some data we have given them already. They’ll go back and start digesting it and come back in about 6-8 weeks and give a presentation to the upper administration about what they have learned and what transportation needs to be done and what changes they can make.”
Both the open house and the study as a whole have been in the works for several years, it just took a
The response from the Auburn community was overwhelming. There were a lot of students that came through the stations, Andre said.
Students and faculty filled the room throughout the open house, not wasting any time to visit the food table where parking services provided free Chick-fil-A and pizza.
“I think it is a great starting step for students to be involved in transportation and parking,” said Grant Johnson, SGA assistant vice president of facilities and senior in chemical engineering. “I think with what we are afforded, there are a lot of different options, but the resources just haven’t been there. By bringing in a contractor to look at it from a comprehensive view, I think it’s a very good thing.”
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