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Editor: 

In his March 2 letter to the Daily Planet, Planning Commissioner Rob Wrenn either misunderstands or misrepresents the university’s position on transit incentive programs. The campus is very committed to promoting the use of transit by its employees, but the subsidy of a bus-only pass for staff may not be the answer.  

The majority of university employees who currently purchase transit tickets from the campus use BART. Among Berkeley campus employees are also those who commute from Contra Costa County, San Francisco, and other areas outside of Alameda County. To limit our program to an AC Transit-only 

program would probably be ineffective and inequitable, providing a disproportionate subsidy for one transit user group on the campus.  

The City of Berkeley’s pilot Ecopass Program has only recently been launched, and it is too soon to know whether it will be successful in reducing the drive alone rate for employees and the demand for parking.  

In fact, the Berkeley campus is studying a more expansive program that would better meet the needs of its nearly 14,000 employees.  

The campus advocates a balanced model that considers both parking demand and transit utilization and works steadily to encourage transit without ignoring the need for appropriate parking. For example, the Berkeley campus utilizes funds collected from parking citations to fund our shuttle bus system, which takes campus users to the downtown Berkeley BART station and around the perimeter of the campus. We provide almost 900,000 shuttle rides per year.  

Wrenn complains that our parking fees are not high enough, yet we have raised campus parking rates between 55-70% over the past four years. In fact, the Berkeley campus parking rates may be the highest for a college or university west of the Mississippi. Additionally, each parking permit holder contributes $36.00 per year to the New Directions in Transportation program, which promotes transit, car pool, and bicycle use. 

The student Class Pass program, on which the City’s Ecopass Program was based, was initiated through a pilot program financed by the Chancellor.  

The campus through its students and the staff at Parking & Transportation worked with AC Transit to implement this acclaimed program twice through successful referendums. I trust we can be as creative and effective in our search for a program to meet the needs of faculty and staff. The Berkeley campus is committed to the goals of the joint UC-COB Transportation Demand Management study, and we are working with city staff towards them. 

Nadesan Permaul 

Director of Transportation 

UC Berkeley