Western Washington University
OP-18: Support for Sustainable Transportation

There are 13 bike lockers available to rent through the Sustainable Transportation program. They lock with a key and are completely secure and enclosed. Eight of the bike lockers are adjacent to Carver Gymnasium; the remaining 5 are a short walk (1 minute) from Carver Gym. Faculty, staff and students have access to lockers and showers in Carver Gym. The cost to rent a locker for faculty and staff is $15/quarter or $40/year. Students pay $10/quarter for a locker. Everybody pays $5.00 to purchase a towel which then has unlimited laundry service. Long-term bike parking/storage is available for Resident students, as provided by University Residences, in storage rooms. Campus Residences also have outdoor bike parking available for students.

As of Fall 2017, there are a total of 839 bike parking spaces outside academic buildings, 588 (70%) are sheltered from rain and weather, either as built, or installed under a building overhang. Every building on campus, including residence halls, has short-term bike parking adjacent to it. Some residence halls offer long-term secure bike parking in the form of secure indoor bicycle rooms.

Western's Institutional Master Plan states: All circulation principles and patterns support the goal of prioritizing modes of transportation in the following order: 1) pedestrian, 2) bicycles, 3) transit, and 4) vehicles. The following general principles and patterns relate to circulation: • Provide convenient, safe, and accessible access on campus for students, staff, faculty and visitors. • Work with the City to ensure that all on-campus and off-campus circulation plans are complementary and reinforce circulation connections between Western and adjacent neighborhoods. Separate pedestrian, bicycle, and transit circulation from private and service vehicles where feasible and appropriate. • Provide multiple “front doors” to campus. • Discourage cross campus through-traffic, promote traffic calming devices, and minimize adverse circulation effects on neighborhoods. To promote priority of pedestrian access, the plan should: • Locate future academic zones within a 10-minute walk from central campus to support a pedestrian oriented campus. • Increase the number of students, staff, and faculty who walk to campus. • Maximize convenient, well-lighted and safe pedestrian access and circulation on campus; keep pedestrians separate from bicycles and vehicles whenever possible. • Relocate the majority of parking to the periphery of campus. • Design pedestrian paths so they are accessible to the disabled and sufficient to carry required volumes of pedestrian traffic. • Support the City’s efforts to provide convenient and safe pedestrian access to campus. • Convert High Street to a pedestrian/transit mall between West Campus Way and Oak Street to improve pedestrian and transit accessibility and reduce current conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles. Limit single occupancy vehicle circulation consistent with relevant City ordinances and regulations regarding the use of High Street. • Maximize a pedestrian campus and minimize the use of limited campus land for roads. In accordance with “Recommendation #9” from the WWU Neighborhood Plan, work with city staff “to ensure that city pedestrian improvement plans complement on-campus facilities.” To promote bicycle commuting and access: • Improve bicycle security and bicycle facilities on campus. • Provide safe, convenient bicycle pathways on campus separate from pedestrians and vehicles whenever possible. • Consider development of continuous north/south bicycle routes to create safer circulation conditions on both edge of campus. • In accordance with “Recommendation #12” from the WWU Neighborhood Plan, continue to work with city staff “to ensure that city bicycle improvement plans complement on-campus facilities.”

Student transit passes are embedded in their student ID card. They are provided through a partnership with the Whatcom Transit Authority that is funded by the $26.25 transportation fee required each quarter for students taking 6 credits or more. The WWU quarterly bus pass costs less than any equivalent bus pass sold to the Bellingham public community by the Whatcom Transit Authority. Students taking less than 6 credits can opt-in to pay the fee receive a bus pass. The student transportation fee also funds a late night student shuttle that operates seven days a week. Service begins when the public transportation ends and goes until 3:00 am. Employee bus passes are subsidized by WWU, with the employee paying a discounted rate of $23 per quarter. More infor: http://www.wwu.edu/transportation/

Through the Smart Trips program, registered Smart Trip makers are eligible for a free ride home - via taxi - in the event of illness, emergency or unexpected overtime.

For staff and faculty, the transportation office has a map and spreadsheet of employee addresses and provides carpool matching services upon request. This service is not provided to students, due to the larger number of students and lack of a reliable student address database. However, students are encouraged to use the Viking Village online student forum which has a topic dedicated to ride sharing. Carpools are given preferred parking places and pay a reduced fee for a parking permit.

Western Washington University has partnered with Zipcar to bring self-service, on-demand car sharing to the area. WWU has three Zipcars available, in three campus locations: 7G parking lot on High Street adjacent to Higginson Hall 15R parking lot on the north side of Ridgeway Commons 12A parking lot adjacent to Fairhaven College Students 18 and older, Staff and faculty employees, and members of the community are eligible for Zipcar membership. Students and employees receive discounted membership, and a credit for joining. Departmental memberships are available, supporting car share for work-related trips.

Students completed an infrastructure and community assessment, and determined that the University required six (6) Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in order to address the growing demand for non-fossil fuel-powered transportation. The research was presented in the form of a grant proposal, which was approved by a committee that then awarded the funding to purchase and install the charging stations. The six stations are now installed, active, and used on a daily basis by community members at no cost, thus promoting EV use as a means of combating the climate-changing effect of fossil fuels

Telecommuting is allowed for FLSA non-exempt employees who have permission approved in writing by their supervisor using the Telework Request Assessment and Telework Agreement forms provided on WWU's Human Resources web page.

The University allows alternative work week schedules for permanent classified and professional staff. Schedules can be condensed into less than 5 days a week as long as they add up to the numbers of hours required by that job appointment and don’t conflict with department requirements.

Western cooperates with the local transportation authority to encourage sustainable ways of commuting for students and employees. Smart trips is a program where one can log their daily commute modes and be entered for a prize drawing each month. We also provide full information on commute within town and the region by means of public transportation.