How did you get to and around campus today? On foot, bike, the Miami Metro or by car? We make these everyday decisions as individuals, but they add up. College campuses may be quaint, but they confront real transportation and parking issues. Students, employees and visitors need convenient access to campus. But don't we also want our quads green and not in asphalt parking lots, our streets enjoyable spaces and not congested thoroughfares?
Planning a convenient, healthy and sustainable transportation system is not easy. But Miami University is taking on that challenge, and it needs your help.
Now is a great time for a fresh look at how we get to and around campus. A recent Campus Transportation Study and Miami Metro survey highlighted the need for more options. Tight budgets mean Miami's transportation services must be more efficient in serving our changing campus. But more and more of us are driving, even for short trips. The result is traffic and diminished safety and quality of life. Expanding roadways and parking are not good, or even affordable, solutions.
Luckily, our traditional campus offers a model for rethinking these challenges. Walking, biking and transit have long been central to campus transportation. And we increasingly recognize their importance for sustainability and even our own health and well-being. But they are also great solutions to traffic and parking problems. The more people use alternative transportation, the more our streets and parking are free when we really need them. And who wouldn't want a quieter, safer and cleaner campus?
Making campus transportation greener and healthier requires changing our campus and our habits. It means creating incentives for doing the right thing, providing convenient alternatives and developing smarter pricing signals. This must be a community effort.
How can you get involved? You can start by visiting "Miami on the Move" day on Tuesday, November 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Shriver multi-purpose room where you can learn more about the issues, benefits of active and public transport and experience a range of transportation alternatives. You can view and comment on Miami's first-ever Campus Circulation Master Plan: a vision for expanding pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, improving Miami Metro and promoting smarter parking policies. And, most importantly, you can help brainstorm innovative ways to improve campus transportation. How would you change Miami to make walking, biking, riding the Metro or carpooling easier?
Getting to this 21st century vision won't be simple. But getting started now, we might just arrive at a campus that is not only more accessible, but also greener, healthier, safer and flat out nicer. Help us get there.
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