Edith Cowan University ECU Access and Transport Strategy 2012-2022 1. Introduction Edith Cowan University s (ECU) Metropolitan Campuses have reached a point where low-cost at grade car parking facilities can no longer be constructed: the land is finite and more space is required to build additional educational facilities. The ECU Access and Transport Strategy has been developed to ensure that students, staff and visitors are able to access the Metropolitan Campuses appropriately, fairly and equitably by using sustainable practices and aligning with the future needs of the University and directions of the Western Australian Government. The ECU Access and Transport Strategy 2012 has been developed in consultation with stakeholders in various forums and considering models in comparative industries i.e. other WA universities, the Health Department and information from State and Local Government Agencies regarding current trends and better practice. The ECU Access and Transport Strategy aligns with and complements the current State Government future planning documents Directions 2031 and Public Transport for Perth in 2031. 1
2. Recommendations 2.1 Short Term (1-2 years) 1. The prioritisation for parking to those most in need of parking, refer to 8.5. 2. Progressively implement parking restrictions as demand for parking increases and availability decreases. 3. A traffic management consultant be engaged to identify and recommend suitable infrastructure required to implement this strategy. 4. Restricted access is assigned to selected carparks on each campus for those most in need of parking and access. 5. Timetabling practices be reviewed to reduce the peak student periods on campus and thus reduce the demand for parking. 6. An education program similar to the Smoke Free campaign, be developed for implementation to advise students and staff of this Strategy. 7. Develop Travel Plans to meet the access needs for all ECU Campuses. 8. The University investigate the introduction of a corporate Smartrider card to staff that will be using public transport. 9. End of trip facilities be considered in new buildings and a program to retrofit be developed. 10. Introduce salary sacrifice options for bikes and associated paraphernalia. 11. Cease the part-time permit from 2013. 12. Incrementally increase parking fees to the cost of a Two zone return public transport fare over 3 to 4 years, with revenue raised to continue to be used for campus access initiatives. 2.2 Medium Term (3-5 years) 1. Students and staff in close proximity of Joondalup and Mount Lawley Campuses be restricted access to parking for the first six weeks of semester one unless they meet the Priority 1 criteria in 8.5.1. 2. Pay As You Go parking be introduced to replace parking permits as the primary payment for parking on campus. 3. Students provided with parking will be charged a concessional parking fee similar to concessional Public Transport fares (Two zone return concessional fare). 4. Introduce one class of parking for all staff other than those who are provided with a parking bay as a condition of their employment contract. 5. Introduce differential parking fees depending on location of the carpark. 6. Introduce short and long term parking rates. 7. Consider the effect of increasing car-parking fees on the Bunbury Campus. 8. Work with the Cities of Joondalup, Stirling and Bunbury when implementing changes to transport access. 9. Provide improved facilities for bikes, motorbikes and scooters. 10. Construction of a multi-storey carpark is undertaken at the Joondalup Campus. 11. Investigate the development of appropriate infrastructure and a cost model to accommodate electric vehicles. 2.3 Long term (>5 years) 1. Additional parking be constructed only on the basis that it is required to meet the demand of those students and staff without alternate access options. 2. The University work with State Government and other universities to facilitate the integration/transfer of the Smartrider technology onto the university electronic access card to create a one University card for students and staff. 3. Investigate the possibility of co-venturing with the local community agencies to share the use of parking e.g. multi-storey parking. 3. Key Principles The key principles agreed by ECU s Senior Executive (ECU Campus Access Strategy Framework, December 2010) include: 1. The provision of additional car parking on campus to meet increased student and staff load will become unsustainable for financial, land use and sustainability reasons. 2. Accordingly the University wants to limit vehicle access onto campus in the future. 3. The University wants to ensure that those with the most need for parking have priority access to parking on campus. 4. Parking should be charged on a realistic and user pay basis and reflect the cost of providing parking infrastructure or alternatively at a cost greater than the average cost of public transport. 2
4. External Influences Two key external factors that will have a significant impact on the medium and long term planning of the ECU Access and Transport Strategy are the Department of Planning s Directions 2031 and the Department for Transport s, Public Transport for Perth in 2031. Both these plans outline the strategic directions and planning strategies the State Government will be taking to address the expansion and growth of Perth in the next twenty years. The key message in both documents outlines the reduction of private motor vehicles and provision of car parks and the growth of effective public transport systems that will transport large numbers of people quickly, efficiently and comfortably. 5. Benchmarking partners 2010 When benchmarking against other West Australian universities, ECU still has a comparable ratio of car space to staff and student numbers. WA Universities Benchmarking Number of Car Spaces per 100 EFTSL Number of Car Spaces per 100 FTE Staff Edith Cowan 28.6 3.01 Curtin 27.4 2.22 Murdoch 39 2.87 UWA 19.3 1.05 Average Total 28.58 2.29 The ratio of car bays provided by WA universities/equivalent Full-Time Student Load (EFTSL) varies significantly. ECU is on the WA average and provides an extra eight car parking bays per EFTSL over the Australian University sector average. Similarly, the three bays provided per FTE by ECU, is double that of the Australian sector average (source 2010 TEFMA benchmarking survey). 6. Student Growth 2009-2022 ECU has enjoyed significant student growth and it is projected that this will continue through to 2022. During this period there will be a minimal increase in car parking. Mount Lawley Campus 8000 Carparks EFTSL ML 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Joondalup Campus 14000 Carparks EFTSL JO 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 7. Consultation and Methodology The Strategy has been developed in consultation with students and staff from both Joondalup and Mount Lawley Campuses. All students and staff were invited to attend forums and provide input into five key areas of the strategy, these were: Policy/incentives what changes could ECU make to encourage change? Education /Awareness how can information be delivered about the benefits of alternative models of transport? Infrastructure/Facilities What additional facilities and amenities are required to support change? Parking Costs/Spaces what is your response to raising parking fees to market rate? What ideas have you for reducing the number of bays taken up at any one time? Other ideas what could my staff team/student group do ourselves to change behaviour? 3
Photograph courtesy of WA Department of Transport 8. Prioritising Access to Metropolitan Campuses 8.1 Rationale Access to parking on metropolitan campuses will be allocated based on the student s or staff members proximity to the campus and their access to different modes of transport. If the campus enjoys high levels of accessibility by public transport, walking and cycling then students and staff who have easier access to these modes should be provided with the incentives to encourage the use of these modes. In developing a fair and equitable strategy it was identified that the restriction of access of students and staff living in the postcodes closest to the metropolitan campuses, would make a significant and immediate impact on the parking availability. Staff/Student numbers per postcode JOONDALUP Campus Beldon, Connolly, Edgewater, Heathridge, Mullaloo, Ocean Reef No of Postcode staff Students 6027 473 1,755 In the first instance, access to parking for this cohort will be restricted at the commencement of semester unless they satisfy the criteria for priority 1 parking (8.5.1). This restriction can be readily broadened to include postcodes as parking demand increases. 8.2 Public Transport accessibility Public transport accessibility could be determined on the basis of the combined effect of the variables listed: The frequency of bus and train services close to and within the campus. Geographical areas serviced by public transport (a) without the need to interchange and (b) with bus-bus and bus-rail interchange. Public transport travel times, including directness of route, reliability/congestion delays. MOUNT LAWLEY Campus Mt Lawley, Coolbinia, Menora No. of Postcode staff Students 6050 172 394 4
8.3 Walking Accessibility Walking accessibility is influenced by: The intensity of residential development within walking distance from the metropolitan campuses. The walking environment. The quality and location of showers, lockers and change facilities provided at the Metropolitan Campuses. 8.4 Cycling Accessibility Cycling accessibility is influenced by: The intensity of residential development within cycling distance from the Metropolitan Campuses. The cycling environment. The quality of bicycle parking, showers, lockers and change facilities provided at the Campus. 8.5 Prioritisation for Parking 8.5.1 Priority 1 Criteria for Priority 1 parking is students or staff who: Live further from the Metropolitan Campuses. Have a longer and less direct journey. Have limited access to the other modes of transport i.e. public transport, walking and cycling. 8.5.2 Priority 2 Criteria for Priority 2 parking is students or staff who: Live in the postcodes closest to the Metropolitan Campuses. Have easy access to other modes of transport i.e. public transport, cycling, walking. Priority 2 category is the cohort that will be least inconvenienced when accessing the Metropolitan Campuses, as there are several other modes of transport that they could choose, which would allow them to reach their destination in a reasonable time. 8.5.3 Exceptions: Should students and staff wish to park on campus they will need to meet the following criteria: Can demonstrate that they have a disability. Can demonstrate that they cannot access alternative forms of transport. They have elected to take advantage of the parking incentive program, (see 9 Access Payment Strategies). Photograph courtesy of City of Joondalup 5
9. Access Payment Strategies 9.1 Rationale Parking should be charged on a realistic and user pay basis and reflect the cost of providing parking infrastructure or alternatively at a cost greater than the average cost on public transport. Research has identified that travel plans that address parking by restricting the number of students and staff entitled to park and introducing realistic charges, achieve significantly higher reductions in car usage. Incremental increases to parking fees will be applied to students and staff based on: Reflecting the cost of providing and maintaining parking infrastructure and be comparable to the cost of using public transport. Parking fees being the same for students and staff. Students categorised as in need of parking being entitled to a concessional parking fee similar to that provided for concessional public transport users. 9.2 Incentives To increase the number of students and staff using alternative transport methods to campus, and reduce the number of cars on campus at any given time. People who utilise alternative modes of transport may be provided with positive incentives such as: Carpoolers receiving reduced parking fees or guaranteed premium parking on campus. Cyclists, motorbike and scooter riders parking remaining free. End of trip facilities. Salary sacrifice options for purchasing bikes and riding paraphernalia. The monies raised in the increased fees will go to the improvement and development of active transport facilities and services at ECU campuses. All car parking fees generally being a Pay As You Go system. Differential parking fees being applied based on the location e.g. parking is undercover or in the open, and/or its proximity to buildings. Gail Barbera Project Manager, Facilities and Services Centre, Edith Cowan University 270 Joondalup Drive, JOONDALUP WA 6027 Tel: (08) 6304 2778 Fax: (08) 6304 2787 Mobile: 61 407 573 006 Email: g.barbera@ecu.edu.au 6 Information contained in this brochure was correct at the time of printing and may be subject to change. CRICOS IPC 00279B key2design_33142_02/12