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Projects Updates for Transportation iCAP Team

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  1. December 2nd, 2016 Meeting

    Meeting Minutes 12-02-16

    -          Lily Wilcox proposes new recommendation to build bike parking cages in new parking decks. Proposal was submitted to iCap Working Group

    -          Concerns:

    o   Will faculty really use this? Most faculty drive to campus; will they use bikes to get from building to building?

    o   Price is $100 per semester per bike. Price seems too high, and we’re not sure it is worth it for a cheap bike. Also, we are not sure if students would be willing to pay that much. We must look at what pricing options we can come up with.

    -          Benefits:

    o   Overall, proposal was very well received by team.

    o   Other universities, such as the University of Wisconsin, have similar bike parking and Lily says they are happy with it.

    o   A survey showed that there is some student interest in $25 permit student pricing.

    o   This would help the problem of abandoned bikes on campus.

    -          Other Comments:

    o   This proposal would focus on new parking decks being built, but it would also be possible to retrofit old ones.

    o   Having shower rooms in the new parking decks would help so people do not have to be sweaty after riding their bike.

     

    Spring meetings: Fridays at 1pm, about once every two weeks.

  2. November 4th, 2016 Meeting

    Meeting minutes 11/04/16

    -          Ankit showed us a video showing how some cities like Singapore are using tracking systems ( using cards) to track when people are getting on and getting off. This may improve the bus schedule. We could possibly using cards to track.

    o   MTD would have to put systems of the busses. Would require funds to implement this idea.

    o   Yangfeng mentioned some problems that could be associated with it. We must be careful if changing the bus schedule. Will MTD be open to the idea? It is quite some change.

    -          What we will talk to Ben about: one proposal on campus fleet, proposal on air travel to understand behavior, and parking proposal to change behavior. We will ask him what’s next, what’s on the agenda, and about further tasks to do. We need some more guidance.

  3. October 21st, 2016 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 

    Meeting Minutes 10-21-16

    Attendees:

                  Josh Feldman

                  Claire Dondival

     

    Topics:

     

                  Claire emailed Lance Schideman, professor who works for Illinois Sustainable Tech Center. He hasn’t gotten back to her yet, but Claire will try to see if he can possibly come to one of our future meetings.

     

    Next Meeting:

                 

                  11/4/16, Friday at 1pm in the iSEE conference room

     

  4. September 30th, 2016 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 

    Meeting minutes – 9/30/16

    In Attendance:

                  Josh Feldman

                  Ankit Singhai

                  Yangfeng Ouyang

     

    Topics:

    Josh, Ankit, and Yangfeng collaborated to create the transportation poster for the campus sustainability celebration.

     

  5. September 9th, 2016 Meeting

    9/09/16

     

    Summary: This meeting was our inaugural meeting for the year. On the agenda today was the creation of a team description, a review of ongoing projects, and planning for future meetings.

     

    In attendance:

        Josh Feldman

        Claire Dondival

    Ankit Singhai

    Yangfeng Ouyang

    Pete Varney

    Lily Wilcox - Active Transportation Coordinator

    Olivia Webb - Sustainability Programs Coordinator

     

    Topics Covered:

     

    Team Description

    We collectively crafted our team description for the iCAP portal, which can be found at:  https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/transportation-swateam.

     

    Project Slides

    Renewable Fleet Study:

    Claire and Petehelped foster a discussion about the current types of alternative fuels for campus fleet vehicles. Currently, natural gas is the only type of fuel seriously looked at. One concern was that the gas CNG, while possible to implement, would be somewhat costly and have little payback unless driven many miles. Electric vehicles were brought up, but are currently not part of the market. Biodiesel was also mentioned, but its performance in cold weather is a concern.

     

    Staff Mode Shift:

    Lily discussed the ways that this project will reduce single occupancy vehicles. One idea looked at was bike sharing, which has been tried by Purdue but does not have much payback economically. Lily also discussed “It’s your MTD too”, which features social bus-riding trips which introduce MTD to campus employees.

     

    Bike Plan:

    This was a summary of effort to make campus more bike-friendly. This would include having more, and better, bike parking. UIUC was recently recognized as a bronze-level Bike Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists.

     

    Future Meetings

    We decided that every other Friday at 1pm is a good time to hold meetings. We will be holding meetings in the National Soybean Research Laboratory. Our clerk Josh will send out reminders.

  6. SWATeam Charge Letter for FY17

  7. iWG meeting agenda March 30, 2016

  8. iWG meeting meeting March 30, 2016

  9. Trans006 Differential Parking Pricing for Shared Vehicles recommendation - Returned to the SWATeam

    The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on February 16, 2016, to discuss the SWATeam recommendation, Trans006 Differential Parking Pricing for Shared Vehicles. The iWG's final comment was:

    "Study to determine if differential pricing for campus parking will encourage car sharing.The study of the parking pricing structure and alternatives for changing it can be very complex and involve a lot of issues. Have they addressed this in their recent Parking Master Plan effort? It was suggested to add Brian Farber from Parking to the Transportation SWATeam and examine what has been addressed in their Master Plan, before undertaking this study."

    Following the iWG meeting, this recommendation was returned to the Transportation SWATeam for further discussion within the SWATeam.

    See SWATeam recommendation Trans006 Differential Parking Pricing for Shared Vehicles here.

  10. Trans005 Travel Demand Analysis recommendation - Returned to the SWATeam

    The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on February 16, 2016, to discuss the SWATeam recommendation, Trans005 Travel Demand Analysis. The iWG's final comment was:

    "What would be the end result? There are many reasons to travel, some are optional and some are not. For example, junior faculty who are working on tenure need to network and engage with other experts in their area. Other times, it may be sufficient to conduct business or the meeting virtually. This is more of a sociological study, maybe a student in the Sociology department can help.  Jess Tang will work with the SWATeam to see if this is plausible."

    Following the iWG meeting, this recommendation was returned to the Transportation SWATeam for further discussion within the SWATeam.

    See SWATeam recommendation Trans005 Travel Demand Analysis here.

  11. Trans007 Campus fleet analysis and Planning recommendation - Returned to SWATeam

    The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on February 16, 2016, to discuss the SWATeam recommendation, Trans007 Campus Fleet Analysis and Planning. The iWG's final comment was:

    "They have suggested that this analysis is ideally completed by an industry professional. The iWG recommends that this study can be broken down into phases where phase 1 could be done by students, and phase 2 then could be done by an outside consultant (industry expert). Ben will suggest this to the SWATeam."

    Following the iWG meeting, this recommendation was returned to the Transportation SWATeam for further discussion and modification to the recommendation within the SWATeam.

    See SWATeam recommendation Trans007 Campus Fleet Analysis and Planning here.

  12. Trans001 TEM_DMI recommendation - Supplanted

    The OBFS department sent their response to the iCAP Working Group (iWG) on September 23, 2015, which was then forwarded to the Transportation SWATeam in October. The Transportation SWATeam supplanted the Trans001 TEM_DMI recommendation with the new Trans005 Travel Demand Analysis recommendation.

    See the new SWATeam recommendation Trans005 Travel Demand Analysis here.

    See Transmittal of SWAteam recommendation of Trans001 TEM_DMI here.

    See iWG assessment of Trans001 TEM_DMI here.

    See SWATeam recommendation Trans001 TEM_DMI here.

  13. Trans006 Differential Parking Pricing for Shared Vehicles recommendation - Submittal

    The Transportation SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating,

    "Differential parking pricing for shared vehicles. One identified venue to encourage car sharing among faculty/staff and students is via differential pricing of campus parking permits. The basic idea is to sell parking permits at different prices for different lots, different vehicle types, and different users. The spots in the popular lots shall be sold at higher prices, while those sharing cars (i.e., two or more persons purchasing one permit for one vehicle) or using low-emission vehicles shall receive discounts and/or priority for getting into a popular lot. It is proposed that a study could be performed in two phases, as follows:

    Phase I: Feasibility study that
    1. Conducts a series of surveys to (i) understand the attitude of the parking department, current users, and the general public toward the proposed differential pricing scheme; and (ii) collect information on the campus commute patterns (single vehicle vs. carpool vs. CUMTD transit, origin/destinations, and vehicle types).
    2. Collects data on campus parking capacity, utilization pattern, and demand profile.
    3. Develops statistical/econometric models based on the collected data to inform us about the likelihood for users to adapt their vehicle usage and parking preferences in the context of parking price change.

    Phase II: Pilot implementation study that
    4. Evaluates the effectiveness of differential pricing on enhancing parking capacity utilization and reducing single-occupancy vehicle usage, with possible field implementation on a small scale.
    "

    See attached the SWATeam recommendation complete with comments from all the Transportation SWATeam members.

  14. Trans005 Travel Demand Analysis recommendation - Submittal

    The Transportation SWATeam submitted a new recommendation, Trans005 Travel Demand Analysis, that supplanted the old recommendation, Trans001 TEM_DMI. The SWATeam stated,

    "Travel demand analysis on reducing air travel emissions. It was proposed that a travel demand study be conducted to find out quantitatively how university business travelers select air travel against other alternatives (such as web-conference, train, driving). The outcome will then be used to develop incentives or policies to reduce air travels and emissions. This study could be conducted in two phases:

    Phase 1. Collect 1-2 years of data on individual travel decisions, including travelers’ socio-economic characteristics, and the alternatives they have. This includes analysis of the current Travel and Expense Management (TEM) database (e.g., the reported travel purpose and funding source) to collect basic information about current air travel. Part of the effort can involve adding new questions to the current TEM reimbursement process. An additional survey to the general public might be necessary to account for those who choose not to travel.

    Phase 2. Statistical/econometric models (e.g., discrete choice models) will be developed based on the data collected in Phase 1. The outcome will inform us what factors contribute to air travel versus other available options, and what it takes to change the travelers’ decisions. Based on the findings, the researcher could recommend programs to (i) provide incentives for campus units to reduce their annual air travel emissions; and (ii) educate/support the campus community on alternatives to air travel, such as trains and video conferencing."

    See attached the SWATeam recommendation, Trans005 Travel Demand Analysis, complete with comments from all the Transportation SWATeam members.

    See the Supplanted SWATeam recommendation Trans001 TEM_DMI here.

  15. Trans007 Campus fleet analysis and Planning recommendation - Submittal

    The Transportation SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating,

    "Campus fleet analysis and planning. The campus fleet includes department-owned vehicles, the car and truck pool vehicles, and the heavy equipment pool (mainly diesel-fueled large construction equipment). It is proposed that a feasibility study be performed on campus that:
    1. Reviews the campus sustainability goals in the context of the University fleet;
    2. Analyzes existing fleet data (i.e., fleet composition, ownership, usage/mileage profile) and future demand;
    3. Evaluates current vehicle technology, fleet size, fuel types and availability;
    4. Proposes collection of additional data (if needed);
    5. Identifies various plans and anticipated cost/benefit results. Some of the options include: converting regular fuels to compressed natural gas, electricity, or biodiesel, increasing the portion of low-emission hybrid vehicles.
    "

    See attached the SWATeam recommendation, Trans007 Campus Fleet Analysis and Planning, complete with comments from all the Transportation SWATeam members.

    See the supplanted SWATeam recommendation Trans004 Fleet Study here.

     

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