Transportation Strategic Plan
Communication to FAS Faculty
January 7, 2002
To: Members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
From: Sally Zeckhauser, Vice President for Administration; Thomas Vautin, Assoc. Vice President for Facilities and Environmental Services
Subject: Parking and Transportation Planning
As you may know, Harvard will build substantial new academic facilities during the next few years. These plans are the culmination of faculty-led efforts over the past decade to increase academic resources in nearly every school. We are writing to tell you how the overall expansion plans will affect the University's parking facilities for faculty and staff.
Already, several new construction programs that will have a direct effect on commuting for faculty and staff have begun. A new parking garage at the One Western Avenue housing complex in Allston is well into construction, and we are in the final stages of design for another underground garage in the North Yard. With the construction of the new UIS building at 60 Oxford Street more than 100 parking spaces have been temporarily displaced. We have attached a map illustrating where these, and other projects, are changing the landscape of Harvard.
As the schools grow, much of the new construction will take place on land that is presently used for parking, which presents some difficult - and competing - challenges. Unfortunately, Harvard does not have enough parking even now to meet the needs of faculty and staff. Urban planning regulations, especially in Cambridge, strictly limit Harvard's ability to add to the current parking inventory. However, under Cambridge zoning rules we must preserve the current number of parking spaces in order for the schools to build new space, and similar master planning requirements exist in Boston. In short, parking has become a key planning element in support of the overall academic development programs of the schools.
For some time we have been working closely with the FAS administration on solutions to these challenges that serve the transportation and parking needs of Harvard's faculty and staff as the schools grow. Our planning process has been enhanced by extensive discussions and consultation with many members of the Harvard community, including the Faculty Council, Deans, faculty members with expertise in economic and transportation systems, the University Physical Planning Committee, and more than 20 discussion groups across the campus. This ongoing dialogue has been enormously helpful.
Several important principles have emerged:
- Preserve the current number of parking spaces in Cambridge and Allston, while accommodating the development of the University's land for academic purposes.
- Expand transportation resources to accommodate future growth of faculty and staff and to reduce dependence on parking, especially for single-occupant vehicles.
- Create a financial structure that supports the parking and transportation infrastructure, while providing fairness and balanced incentives in user fees.
In brief, the current plans are to build several new underground garages to replace parking spaces lost to new academic and research buildings. We are also expanding University transportation services and increasing efforts to make public transportation services more convenient and less expensive.
Perhaps the biggest challenge will be the financial impact of the new underground garages, which are substantially more expensive to build and maintain than open parking lots. To date, the University's parking services have been funded entirely through user fees, and rates for parking permits have been determined by actual costs. Harvard's parking rates in Cambridge and Allston have been quite low in comparison with those of other Boston-area employers (and with the University-owned parking at the Medical Area) and public transportation alternatives.
However, spending on Harvard's parking systems during the next 25 years will require more than $500 million. If users continued to be the only source of funds, parking fees would quadruple. Because of the impact from new construction, the University and the schools have committed to funding approximately 35% of the total cost of the parking financial plan. Nevertheless, parking users will be expected to pay higher fees more typical of other urban institutions.
During the next month we will complete our financial plans and present recommendations to the President and Deans, which will include the parking rates for the next academic year. We have greatly appreciated the insight and expertise of all who have participated in this planning process, and we look forward to working with each of the schools as their new facilities are built.
More information on the parking and transportation challenges facing the University can be found here. If you have any comments or further suggestions, please contact Thomas Vautin, Associate Vice President for Facilities and Environmental Services. Tom can be reached by email at tom_vautin at harvard dot edu, or to his office at 869 Holyoke Center.
Thank you for your consideration and continued guidance. Again, we welcome your thoughts on this important subject.
