Department of Parking & Transportation Services Guiding Principles

East Carolina University is an institution of higher education serving the region, the state of North Carolina, and the national and international academic, research and medical communities. As a broadly based institution with many constituents, it is important for the University to provide reasonable access for all those who want to visit the University campus.

In order to meet the goal of reasonable access for all, the University has developed the following guiding principles.

PRINCIPLE 1. The Parking and Transportation program at ECU will be structured in a manner that provides priorities for allocation of services as well as policies, goals, objectives, and procedures, based upon support of the achievement of the University’s mission.

• The priority of the Department of Parking & Transportation Services is the management of scarce and valuable resources and therefore, the overall good of the University takes precedence over individual requirements that may be in conflict with primary policies.
• Successfully accomplishing the goal of reasonable access for all requires cooperation, coordination, and compromise.

PRINCIPLE 2. Access to University facilities and services must be maintained at an optimal level in serving the internal and external constituents of the campus community.

• While vehicular access within the core campus area is limited, P&T Services will strive to facilitate easy access to and around campus and to extend a feeling of welcome to all of its internal and external customers.
• P&T Services will work to optimize the effectiveness of parking allocations and the integration of mass transportation in providing access to University facilities and services.
• Parking designations and allocations will be based upon maximizing support of the University’s mission through the creation, implementation, and maintenance of structured parking zones.
• In allocating parking, the fees for various zones will be designated in a manner in which parking closest to core areas of the campuses will be more costly than parking more distant from core areas of the campuses.

PRINCIPLE 3. Parking and Transportation Services will assist in fostering and maintaining pedestrian oriented cores on university campuses.

• Parking designations and allocations will be made in a manner consistent with the reduction of vehicular circulation on the core areas on the campuses.
• P&T Services will assist in maintaining pedestrian orientations on the core areas of the campuses through effective design and management of vehicular traffic within the core areas.

PRINCIPLE 4. The University actively promotes and supports the use of multiple transportation modes for trips to and from the campus.

• The University shall employ a parking and transportation system that effectively accommodates pedestrians, buses, shuttles, or other means of mass transit, bicycles, and private vehicles, in providing access to University facilities and services.

PRINCIPLE 5. The Department of Parking & Transportation Services must operate as a financially self-sufficient auxiliary department.

• P&T Services shall maintain multiple-year strategic and financial plans based on attainment of appropriate fees and other revenues necessary in providing financial resources to address the operational and capital improvement needs of parking and transportation.
• The fee/revenue structure is to be closely monitored and periodically modified to enable accommodation of needs for routine maintenance, as well as enhancements and expansions of parking and transportation facilities and services, in meeting the demands placed on the P&T system.

PRINCIPLE 6. Parking is a limited resource and a vital part of the University infrastructure and as such must be included in planned expansions of University facilities.

• To facilitate access for all customer groups, parking needs must be considered and P&T Services must have active input in planning of construction projects.
• Facility planning that leads to permanent reductions in parking resources must show how those spaces will be replaced.
• In cases where the program or project cannot bear parking and development costs, alternative funding sources must be identified by program or project sponsor.
• Construction, renovation projects and new or enhanced programs that displace parking spaces or increase parking demands are obligated to contribute funds toward parking replacement and development costs.

PRINCIPLE 7. The University has an obligation to solve its own parking and transportation issues and to avoid transferring them to surrounding neighborhoods.

• As the University continues to grow, additional parking facilities to accommodate the corresponding increased parking demand shall be integral to effective parking management.

• As parking needs for the university increase, the University should work to minimize negative impacts to parking in surrounding neighborhoods and community areas.

PRINCIPLE 8. The Department of Parking & Transportation Services welcomes constructive ideas and suggestions from all members of the campus community.

• The Department of Parking & Transportation Services will work closely with the Parking & Transportation Committee, which provides broad based input from campus constituents in matters important to parking program planning and administration.

• In all of its activities, P&T Services seeks to work productively with individuals and groups, to gather information regularly on needs and satisfaction with services, to institute productive changes that are helpful, reasonable, and within the limitations of its budget, and to take corrective and prompt action when activities are not accomplishing the stated goals.

PRINCIPLE 9. Special events are important in the achievement of the University’s mission and the related parking and transportation needs must be supported. However, displacement of typical parking and transportation services must be minimized so that those who bear the most significant financial burden for these services are treated fairly.

• It is the responsibility of any department or group requiring parking or transportation for events to notify P&T Services well in advance so that accommodations may be made.
• Additional costs associated with special event parking and transportation services will be charged to the sponsor of the special event.

This FINAL DRAFT of "Guiding Principles" for the ECU Department of Parking and Transportation Services is a collaborative effort of the ECU Parking and Transportation Committee based on recommendations from a parking study done by Chance Management, Inc. The parking consultant emphasized the importance for guiding principles upon which future parking decisions should be made. These principles will become an important component of parking decisions in the future.