| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 78.50 |
| Liaison | Kira Stoll |
| Submission Date | Aug. 16, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of California, Berkeley
OP-18: Support for Sustainable Transportation
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Jack
Chang STARS Assessment Fellow (ERG) Sustainability |
Does the institution provide secure bicycle storage (not including office space), shower facilities, and lockers for bicycle commuters?:
A brief description of the facilities for bicycle commuters:
Secure bicycle parking provides 10 covered bike parking facilities and at least six bike rooms (within buildings) on campus. The campus has six electronic bike lockers available to commuters, as well as for visitors. At least eight campus buildings have shower facilities that are available to cyclists, in addition to a bicycle commuter shower program open to all campus commuters at recreation sports facilities.
Does the institution provide short-term bicycle parking for all occupied buildings and makes long-term bicycle storage available for students who live on-site (if applicable)?:
A brief description of the bicycle parking and storage facilities:
The campus has an extensive bicycle parking program and has been investing in safe and secure parking for more than 25 years. The campus provides more than 4,000 short-term bike parking spaces (racks) at convenient locations around non-residential portions of campus. Nearly all buildings have some bike parking within 50 feet of entrances. In 2017, a bike rack inventory and utilization survey was updated to include a geocoded database of all bike parking facilities. Both short-term (racks) and long-term (cages, rooms) bike parking areas are available within 330 feet of building entrances at all residential buildings managed by the campus.
Does the institution have a bicycle and pedestrian plan or policy (or adhere to a local community plan/policy) that sets standards and practices for campus streets to enable safe access for all users?:
A brief description of the bicycle and pedestrian plan or policy:
The campus has a network of bicycle paths as defined in our campus Bicycle Plan: https://capitalstrategies.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ucb_bikeplanfinal.pdf
This plan also specifies how the campus network integrates with the city's extensive bicycling network, which is also part of the regional network. The campus landscape master plan outlines policies related to providing continuous pedestrian and bicycle paths throughout the campus.
In 2017, UC Berkeley was designated a Gold Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists.
Does the institution have a bicycle-sharing program or participate in a local bicycle-sharing program?:
A brief description of the bicycle sharing program:
The San Francisco Bay Area has instituted a public bike sharing program that campus affiliates can participate in. Ford GoBike is the region’s bike sharing system with more than 7,000 bikes and 70 stations across the region, with locations in San Francisco, Redwood City, Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Jose and stations being added to Berkeley and Oakland this year. The system is intended to provide Bay Area residents and visitors with an additional transportation option. The regional bike share program offers 10 bike share stations within 1/2 mile of the central UC Berkeley campus. Parking and Transportation is working with the Associated Students of the University of California on a grant to provide free FordGoBike BikeShare memberships to Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) students along with free or reduced-cost memberships to the general student population. EOP students will be given a free year of BikeShare memberships with the possibility of subsidizing (75-100%) of a students' second-year BikeShare membership.
UC Berkeley is piloting an electric assist bike share program with 100 bikes for intercampus and intracampus travel. The program is geared for not only more direct routes to campus buildings but also reaches parts of the campus where Ford GoBike does not have any stations.
Does the institution offer free or reduced price transit passes and/or operate a free campus shuttle for commuters?:
A brief description of the mass transit programs:
The campus offers a deeply discounted unlimited ride pass for local transit to faculty, staff and students. Subsidies on tickets for other transit providers are also offered for faculty, staff and students. Faculty and staff can purchase transit through pre-tax payroll deductions. Faculty and staff are eligible for a guaranteed ride home program (free rides home in the event of a personal emergency) and discounted daily parking on days when they need to drive alone.
Since 1998 students have included a student transit fee as part of their registration fee. This has supported the unlimited ride pass and the campus shuttle program for over 18 years.
More than 42,000 students pay for and receive a discounted AC Transit pass. Over 22,000 students and over 800 faculty/staff used their subsidized AC Transit passes in October 2016. Average monthly Bear Transit shuttle ridership exceeded 53,000 boardings by October 2016 - a 12% year-over-year ridership increase. The AC Transit pass is valid for travel on all of the system's 151 routes, including between the East Bay and San Francisco.
The campus operates an extensive day and night shuttle system, Bear Transit, servicing the campus and the vicinity. Anyone can ride our shuttles, which provide convenient transportation between campus, Downtown Berkeley BART, parking lots, Clark Kerr campus, the Hill area, residence halls, Richmond Field Station (RFS) and north and south sides of campus. Shuttles are free to faculty, staff and students.
Does the institution offer a guaranteed return trip program to regular users of alternative modes of transportation?:
A brief description of the guaranteed return trip program:
The free Guaranteed Ride Home Program offers up to 6 emergency taxi rides or car rentals each year for commuters using transit, ridesharing, walking and bicycling. The Guaranteed Ride Home program also includes reimbursements for use of transportation network company (Uber/Lyft) services. The program is provided by Alameda County to all UC Berkeley employees to return home, within 125 miles.
Does the institution participate in a car/vanpool or ride sharing program and/or offer reduced parking fees or preferential parking for car/vanpoolers?:
A brief description of the carpool/vanpool program:
UC Berkeley incentivizes carpooling by offering deeply discounted carpool parking permits and free reserved carpool parking spaces. The carpool parking system is designed to allow students and faculty/staff to carpool together. Free ridematching is available through a regional service for ongoing carpooling arrangements. The campus offers RideAmigos website services free of charge to faculty, staff and students for additional ridematching options. Faculty and staff carpoolers and vanpoolers can purchase fares and permits pre-tax. Faculty and staff are offered discounted daily parking on days when a ridesharer needs to drive alone.
Does the institution participate in a car sharing program, such as a commercial car-sharing program, one administered by the institution, or one administered by a regional organization?:
A brief description of the car sharing program:
UC Berkeley has a variety of car sharing services on, or just adjacent to campus including Zipcar and Enterprise Rent‐a‐Car. Each service provides its members with short‐term car rentals. The vehicles are conveniently located on campus as well as the in city of Berkeley and throughout the region. Each car-sharing service offers its own unique fee structure, eligibility requirements and philosophies. Each service provider offers a program for students ages 18 to 21, to serve a younger population that is sometimes not eligible for rental cars. Members can use the cars available on campus or throughout the network. The campus is now offering a car share program for university business. The GIG program also offers students and staff one-way car-sharing options between campus and homes in the East Bay.
Does the institution have one or more Level 2 or Level 3 electric vehicle recharging stations that are accessible to student and employee commuters?:
A brief description of the electric vehicle recharging stations:
The Stadium/Maxwell Parking Garage provides 8 L2 vehicle chargers for campus faculty, staff, students and visitors. The Upper Hearst Parking Structure provides 2 L1 chargers for faculty and staff. The Telegraph/Channing garage and Oxford/Fulton garage are near public charging stations.
Does the institution offer a telecommuting program for employees as a matter of policy or as standard practice?:
A brief description of the telecommuting program:
UC policy allows managers and supervisors to offer telecommuting options to employees. Some departments on campus offer this option. This is available to both faculty and staff. A recent transportation survey shows almost 3% of employees telecommute 50% or more of the time.
Does the institution offer a condensed work week option that reduces employee commuting (as a matter of policy or standard practice)?:
A brief description of the condensed work week option:
UC Policy allows managers and supervisors to offer a condensed work week option to employees. This condensed schedule can be on a fixed or variable arrangement.
Does the institution have incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus?:
A brief description of the incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus:
UC Berkeley does provide some faculty housing that is of walking or transit distance to campus. The campus built a condominium complex and sold them at less than market rate near campus for purchase by faculty. The transportation incentives offered by the campus encourage employees to live near campus or conveniently located near transit hubs.
Does the institution employ other strategies to reduce the impact of commuting (e.g. preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles, cash-out of parking programs)?:
A brief description of other strategies to reduce the impact of commuting:
Since the 1980s the campus has provided incentives for alternatives to driving alone.
The campus has invested in a large number of student residence hall and apartment units at walking or a transit ride distance from campus. This has been instrumental in the more than 90% of students commuting by sustainable transportation methods. For over a decade the campus has participated in the regional bike to work day, attracting hundreds of cyclists each year to celebrate active transportation. Students have also opened a bicycle repair shop on campus.
The campus manages its parking to support sustainable transportation and make it attractive. All parkers must pay to park - no free parking is offered. The campus only has 5,500 parking spaces to support a daily population of more than 45,000 people. Students can only buy a parking permit for campus by exception or if they live more than 2 miles from the campus. The campus Long Range Development Plan limits the number of parking spaces that the campus can build during the timeframe of the plan.
The campus Long Range Development Plan also prioritizes new campus-built housing to be located within the Housing Zone - a zone defined as being a 20-minute transit ride to the central campus.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Information from this field was provided by the campus Parking and Transportation department.
Information from this field was provided by the campus Parking and Transportation department.
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.