Colorado State University

The Division of Operations and Parking and Transportation Services are rolling out a one-year pilot program to assist the university’s lowest paid employees in meeting increased parking permit costs. The pilot program will be evaluated after one year. The program, designed by a committee that included representatives from the Administrative Professional Council, the Classified Personnel Council, and the Emergency Hardship Loan Fund committee, will automatically provide a 50 percent reduction in annual permit fees to employees who meet criteria. The discount was created after extensive conversations across campus about potential changes to the campus parking model and a necessary increase to parking permit fees. The discussion process included analysis from the Center for Public Deliberation and feedback from various groups on campus, including Administrative Professional Council, Faculty Council and Classified Personnel Council. An option to assist lower-income employees emerged as an important consideration, particularly for employees who are unable to use alternative transportation due to their work schedules. “This new discount program is a great step in answering faculty and staff feedback that low-income employees may need assistance with parking permit fee costs,” said Jeff Sturgeon, immediate past chair of the Classified Personnel Council. The discount will not apply to monthly, daily or hourly parking permits. To qualify for the discount, employees must be half-time or greater and eligible for university benefits, and make less than $30,000 as their base salary. Employees who do not work full time must make less than the equivalent of $30,000 in base salary if paid full-time to receive the discount. Employees who meet all criteria will receive a letter confirming their eligibility within the first two weeks of August. Employees who meet all criteria will automatically receive the discounted price when purchasing their annual parking permits; no application process is necessary. Employees may purchase their permit online or in person at Parking Services. Human Resources will provide Parking and Transportation Services with information about employees who meet the criteria. Employees who qualify for the discount, but who have already purchased a full-price annual permit for 2015-2016, should contact Parking Services for a 50 percent refund of the cost. The university identified the need to increase parking permit fees to increase and maintain university parking inventory. Fees will help pay for the construction of an additional parking garage between Pitkin and Lake Streets on the east side of campus, and an additional parking lot on the south side of campus, to be completed in a few weeks. Employees who believe they may qualify but who did not receive the discount should contact Parking Services at 970-491-7041.

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Faculty and staff 50 years and older can get Back on the Bike, thanks to a Kaiser Permanente grant. The grant, awarded to Parking and Transportation Services, supports a program to help faculty and staff become more comfortable riding a bike to work. The program, Back on the Bike, is now seeking participants for sessions starting the fall semester. The program, geared toward engaging more people in active transportation and physical activity, helps CSU employees who want to bike to work assess their health, tune up their bike, get safety gear, and learn tricks to travel in traffic and overcome other safety or comfort obstacles through personalized travel training. To qualify, faculty and staff must be at least 50 years old, live within a Fort Collins zip code, and want to commute by bicycle. Training helps with health, safety concerns Back on the Bike will offer faculty and staff travel training programs including:

• Confidential health assessments administered by the Recreation Center
• Free bicycle tune up
• Free bike safety gear including a bike lock, helmet, light, and carry bag
• Hands on travel training and bicycle skills development
• Eight monthly training and discussion group sessions with lunch provided
• Online participation tracking system
• The opportunity to recruit other eligible employees

“CSU is in one of the nation’s friendliest biking cities, but it can be intimidating to commute to work when the ride includes traveling in traffic, navigating trails and planning your day around the commute,” said Aaron Fodge, alternative transportation manager for CSU, housed in Parking and Transportation Services. “Many faculty and staff members may be tempted to try commuting to work during the summer, but don’t want to get stuck on campus during an afternoon rainstorm, or just simply haven’t hopped on a bike for a while. This grant is designed to provide them with everything they need to be able to get on their bikes this summer and enjoy all that campus and Fort Collins have to offer for those on two wheels,” Fodge said. Because of this program, many employees are overcoming these obstacles and biking to work. CSU employees offer testimonials for the program Sign up by August 4 to participate Participation in the program requires that employees attempt to commute by bicycle to work three times per week from September-November and March-May, and one time a week during December-February. To participate, employees should sign up by August 4. To participate in the Get Back on the Bike program, contact Amanda Fitzpatrick at (970) 491-7600 or Amanda.Fitzpatrick@colostate.edu.

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Wednesday, June 24, is Bike to Work Day. Stop by one of four stations on our main, south and foothills campuses between 6:30-9:30 a.m. for breakfast. The breakfast stops, sponsored by CSU Parking and Transportation Services and community partners, is one of many stations throughout Fort Collins. CSU volunteers will provide coffee, juice, water, fruit and continental breakfast items. CSU is hosting stations at the following locations:

• Oval near Administration Building, sponsored by Colorado State University, Breakaway Bike Ads, Edge Optics, Mugs Coffee Lounge
• Drake and Mason Streets near the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, sponsored by the CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Benjamin Morgan with Farmers Insurance, Eger CPA, Elan Yoga and Fitness, McAlister's Deli.
• North Overland Trail and Laporte Avenue - USDA National Wildlife Research Center
• Northeast corner of Overland Trail and West Elizabeth Street - Centers for Disease Control, Gib's Bagels, Starbucks

At the breakfast stations, you also can register your bike, a requirement on campus, for $10, get free help with minor repairs and adjustments, and get more information about biking in Fort Collins and on campus. Bike to Work Day is a biannual event to encourage people to bicycle for transportation, experience the benefits of riding a bike, highlight Fort Collins’ extensive bike routes, and demonstrate that bicycling is an easy, fun and healthy means of traveling around the city. 

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Parking and Transportation Services is planning to build a parking garage on the southeast side of campus, to accommodate growing parking needs. The garage will be built over a portion of existing lot #575, at the southeast corner of Pitkin and Mason street. The new garage will provide more than 650 total spaces for CSU permit holders and pay-per-hour spaces, with easy access to MAX, the Oval, and the future Medical Center. The garage is slated for construction starting this fall, with a targeted completion date of summer 2016. By state statute, parking revenue must pay for all parking expenses at the university. Construction of the garage will be funded solely by parking permit and fee revenue.

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Drive Electric Northern Colorado, CSU Parking and Transportation Services, and local dealerships are offering an innovative chance for CSU staff and faculty to get behind the wheel of plug-in electric vehicles to learn about the cost savings, environmental benefits, and national security benefits of driving electric. the event, from 11 a.m.-2p.m., Wednesday, January 14, will be on University Avenue in front of the Plant Sciences building. Drive Electric Northern Colorado, a partnership of Colorado State University and the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland, is a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at achieving widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles in the Northern Colorado region. The chance to test drive an electric vehicle through the partnership's Ride-and-Drive program is free to all CSU faculty and staff. The Ride-and-Drive event combines the opportunity for CSU faculty and staff to learn about how plug in electric vehicles s are cleaner, greener, cheaper, and fun to drive while putting them behind the wheel of today’s latest vehicle technology. “CSU strongly supports our campus community driving electric vehicles and we’ve installed 10 charging points on campus to date. As one of the country’s leading green universities, we care about doing our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support innovative technology in electriv vehicles,” said Amy Parsons, vice president for Operations, after test driving a Chevy Volt. Up to eight electric vehicle models will be available to test drive, and may include the Chevy Volt, Nissan LEAF, BMW i3, Mitsubishi iMiEV, Ford Fusion Energi, Ford C-Max Electric, and the Tesla Model S. At this event, current electric vehilcle owners will ride with each driver to explain the vehicle and about their experience owning an electric vehicle. Drive Electric staff will be present at the event to help attendees learn about federal and state tax credits (up to $13,500) available for purchasing or leasing an electric vehile, and how using electricity instead of gasoline can save consumers thousands of dollars in yearly operating costs. CSU now has 10 charging stations throughout campus where, as a faculty or staff member, you can charge daily for free.    

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Colorado State University now offers 10 electric vehicle chargers at five on-campus stations.

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