Group established to review transportation issues

Issues of parking, public transportation, University bus service and employee commuting habits as well as other transportation-related issues will now fall under the jurisdiction of the newly established Transportation Planning Committee. This permanent standing committee, chaired by Lynn Bender, Director of Facilities Planning & Management, will recommend policies and actions to the University. The committee reports to Arthur Sussman, General Counsel and Vice President for Administration.

The committee will meet during the coming year to review proposed additions to the University and Hospitals parking areas, increases in street metered parking, parking restrictions and University ticketing. The committee also will evaluate the day and evening campus bus services and the trolley service, all operated by the Office of Facilities, Planning & Management. Among the committee's immediate assignments is to evaluate the trolley service -- currently suspended due to a severe mechanical breakdown -- and to recommend appropriate action for its reinstatement. A decision is expected to be made in the fall.

A crucial function of the Transportation Planning Committee will be to ensure compliance with the 1990 Employee Commutes Options Act by surveying all employees to ascertain their commuting habits. All Chicago employers with more than 100 employees are required to conduct the survey, which is expected to be issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency later this year. If the survey indicates that too many people are driving to work at the University and the Hospitals, a plan must be submitted to the Illinois EPA that identifies a strategy to reduce the number of motor vehicles being driven to campus for work purposes. If such a plan is needed, the committee will help with its development.

In addition to Bender, the Transportation Planning Committee members are Robert Aliber, Professor in the Graduate School of Business; John Barker, Assistant Director of Special Services, University Police; Mary Brandon, Assistant Dean in the Social Sciences Division; Maureen Buckley of Nurse Recruitment; Richard Bumstead, University Planner; James Hietbrink, Director of the Medical Center CAM Project; Keith Kulesa, student in the GSB; Richard Mason, Assistant Director of the University House System; Noreen McGowan, Coordinator of Employee Involvement & Communication for the Hospitals; Martina Munsters, Associate Dean of Students in the University; Alexandra Oberdorfer, third-year student in the College; Duel Richardson, Director of Community Services; Robert Riesman, Director of Staff Benefits; Stephen Sellers, Director of Facilities Planning & Transportation; Gene Suwanski, Associate Director of Purchasing; Rachel Swain, a representative of Student Government; Andrew Varcoe, University Ombudsperson; and Bruce Winstein, Professor in Physics.