Quick Summary
- Perry Eggleston brings with him significant experience putting transportation plans into operation
- He will begin implementing recommendations from the campus’s “Transportation Tomorrow” report
- UC Davis is serious about sustainability, and so is he — aiming for a reduction in the number of people driving alone to campus
Transportation Services, or TAPS, rolled into 2020 with a new executive director, Perry Eggleston.
Formerly the director of parking and transportation services at the University of Texas at Arlington and Montclair State University in New Jersey, Eggleston succeeds Cliff Contreras, who retired last June.
“Perry has an extensive background in transportation and parking, having helped dozens of campuses across the United States improve their efficiency, transportation-demand programs and customer service,” said Lucas Griffith, director of Campus Planning.
Eggleston recognizes that Transportation Services takes its responsibility to support the university’s sustainability mission very seriously. To that end, he is aiming for a reduction in the number of people who drive alone to campus.
“I am very aware there are myriad valid reasons people need to drive by themselves,” Eggleston said. “However, our goal in Transportation Services is to increase the number of people who are willing to reduce their [single-occupancy vehicle] trips by using alternative means.”
BICYCLE PROGRAM
As of today, UC Davis has more vehicles coming to campus than there are parking spaces. Reducing the number of cars needing to park on campus by 10 percent will free up 1,800 parking stalls, and by Eggleston’s estimate, save more than $90 million in new garage construction costs.
“Just building new parking facilities is not always the best or most sustainable option if we can use what we have more efficiently,” Eggleston said.
Transportation Services’ goClub will play a part in this plan. The goClub incentivizes commuting via bike, carpool and public transportation, even subsidizing transit passes where possible.
Looking forward, Eggleston shared that for Transportation Services, “Customer service is fundamental to all our service offerings.” Soliciting feedback from Aggies, being transparent and showing how funds are improving the campus mobility network are among Eggleston’s top priorities as he plans to engage with the campus community.
‘Transportation Tomorrow’
Eggleston, who holds master’s and doctoral degrees in public administration, brings significant experience putting transportation plans into operation. In that vein, he will begin implementing recommendations from “Transportation Tomorrow: A Vision of Greater Mobility and Connectivity on the Davis Campus,” a report two years in the making and released last summer (available here as a PDF).
The report, dated June 2019, concludes with 10 recommendations:
- Create an integrated transportation platform
- Align parking management
- Incentivize preferred modes of transportation
- Expand carpool/vanpool programs
- Enhance local and regional transit programs
- Strengthen active transportation programs
- Leverage new and emerging mobility services in support of university goals
- Develop a robust community engagement campaign
- Leverage policy toward culture change
- Improve the campus transportation network
Media Resources
Ryan Jones