UCLA’s commuting population is opting to carpool, bike or walk to campus at increasing rates, according to a new university study.
Only 51 percent of UCLA commuting employees drive by themselves to campus, a 2 percent drop from last year and an almost 10 percent drop from a decade ago, said Renée Fortier, the executive director of UCLA Events and Transportation. Also, more commuting students walk to campus than drive, for the first time in the school’s history, she added.
Since 2008, UCLA transportation officials have made a major push to encourage commuters to use alternate forms of transportation and make the campus more convenient for cyclists and walkers. For example, last school year, transportation officials added the school’s first bike lane along the Strathmore tunnel and designated certain walkways for pedestrians only, she said.
The decrease in the number of cars on campus has also improved the parking conditions on campus, Fortier said. In the 1990s, there was a 5,000-person waitlist to secure a spot on campus and no waitlist today, she said.
UCLA Transportation plans to expand the number of bike lanes on campus, including one on Charles E. Young Drive near student housing.
Compiled by Erin Donnelly, Bruin senior staff.