University of Victoria
OP-17: Support for Sustainable Transportation

The University of Victoria’s SPOKES bike rental and loan program is a unique bicycle upcycling program in which volunteers restore donated old bikes that are then available for loan to students, staff and faculty for as long as they are affiliated with UVic. Bicycles are also available for rent to campus guests as well as the UVic campus community on a first come, first serve basis. This program has been diverting waste in the form of old bicycles from landfills since 2003 and continues to promote a more sustainable and healthy form of transportation.

UVic has additionally participated in a pilot-project partnership with U-Bicycle North America, a smart transportation platform that promotes connectivity and supports smart city and campus programs. In this pilot project, users could access the one of the 30 U-bicycles available over six drop zones across the campus and ride them at their convenience.

UVic participates in two different carsharing programs. The first program, Modo, is a local, member-owned carshare co-operative whose goal is to connect people with places in a way that is affordable, convenient, inclusive and sustainable. UVic makes this particular program available to continuing full time employees and students living in Family Student Housing (FSH) who do not have a parking permit, as well as graduate students. UVic purchases the membership shares, a value of $500, for qualifying employees and FSH students. Users are then responsible for regular usage fees.

The second carshare program at UVic is Zipcar. This program is geared more towards the general student population as students receive a lower rate than other users, however the cars are available to staff and faculty as well. Users can borrow a car by hour or day and pay only for the time they reserve. Zipcar covers gas, insurance, parking and maintenance, as well as accepts driver’s licenses from other countries for international students.

UVic currently has nine Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations located across campus. All of these stations are accessible to the entire campus community and guests to top up their electric car batteries in metered parking spaces.

UVic is a bike-friendly campus and encourages commuters to cycle to campus by offering a multitude of amenities. These include:
•Over 4,000 bike parking spots made up of secure indoor bike parking, covered and sheltered bike parking, and uncovered bike parking.
•Nearly 150 bicycle lockers available to students, faculty and staff living off-campus.
•Showers and change rooms for end-of-trip convenience located in ten different buildings across campus.
•4 free designated electric bike charging stations located across campus

All undergraduate and graduate UVic students are provided with the mandatory Universal Bus Pass (U-Pass). This gives them unlimited access to the regional transit system for each semester they attend UVic at a significantly reduced price included in their student fees. This program covers approximately 20,000 students, and since its introduction transit ridership has increased over 55%. In addition, UVic offers an Employee Bus Pass (E-Pass) to campus staff and faculty at a discounted price of 55% off of a regular monthly transit pass.

UVic provides a variety of different levels of parking passes available to staff and faculty members that encourage them to commute, at least part-time, using more sustainable modes of transportation. These include
•The annual flexible parking permit which allows a driver to park up to 12 days per calendar month on campus at greatly reduced rates to encourage integration of other modes of transportation
•A four-month parking pass for winter months (November to February) to encourage alternative methods of travel during warmer months.

Finally, UVic offers free video-conferencing services for staff, faculty and students to encourage the use of virtual meetings and interviews to reduce the amount of travel and associated greenhouse gases.

UVic continues to work with community transportation groups, such as participating on the regional transit authority committee to improve transit service to campus and surrounding neighbourhoods. UVic also works with the surrounding municipalities to improve cycling and pedestrian access routes to campus including dedicated bike lanes, sidewalks/crosswalks and transit stops.

Engagement and outreach activities include the involvement in and collaboration with committees and groups like the UVic Cycling Advisory Committee, Staff Sustainability Network, the Sustainability Advisory Committee, the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, the District of Saanich Active Transportation Advisory Committee, and BC Transit, which offer support and integration of sustainable transportation options to and from campus.

Information about driving alternatives can be found at: https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/topics/transportation/drivingalternatives/index.php

Information on cycling amenities can be found at
https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/topics/transportation/cycling/index.php

Information on transit at UVic:
https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/topics/transportation/transit/index.php

Information on SPOKES program at UVic:
https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/involved/spokes/index.php

Information on U-Bicycle pilot project:
https://u-bicycle.ca/uvic