Moving Forward: Commuting
program shifts into gear

Parking congestion, traffic congestion and ozone alert days: It must be August in Chapel Hill. Always on the forefront to improve commuting and environmental conditions on campus as well as within the state, Carolina’s Department of Public Safety has developed the Commuter Alternatives Program (CAP) to address issues of congestion and air quality.

CAP is a free program designed to reward University employees and students who commute to campus using alternate modes of transportation (transit, park and ride, bicycling, walking, car/vanpooling) instead of driving a single occupancy vehicle (SOV) to campus.

Pre-registration for the Commuter Alternatives Program has been extremely successful. At this point, more than 800 employees have pre-registered for CAP. Registration is still open and can be done in person at the Department of Public Safety, through the mail using the form on the back of the CAP brochure, or online at main.psafety.unc.edu/tp/CAP/CAP.htm To request a brochure call 962-3951.

All of the people registered for CAP will receive a CAP Discount Card and will be entered in drawings for gift certificates from the following local businesses: Bear Rock Café, Open Eye Café, Michael Jordan’s 23, The Painted Bird, Franklin Street Cycles, The Clean Machine, Elmo’s Diner, The Carolina Brewery, Shoes at the Square and the Carolina Ticket Office.

Additionally, CAP participants have access to Emergency Ride Back service to Park-and-Ride lots served by Chapel Hill Transit and locations within the Chapel Hill/Carrboro city limits. To request an Emergency Ride Back, participants can call 962-7867 (962-P-TO-P). Emergency Ride Back service is provided Monday-Friday from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Employees enrolled in CAP also will receive nine occasional use parking permits, good for one day per month for nine months in the S-11 lot.

A feather in our CAP
It was less than a year ago that Chapel Hill Transit became fare-free, spurring a 30 percent increase in ridership. This October, two new park-and-ride lots are scheduled to open, at the Friday Center and on Jones Ferry Road, providing room for over 1000 more park and riders. These initiatives combined with the start of the Commuter Alternatives Program have earned the University a certificate of recognition in the Commuter Choice Leadership Initiative. According to the EPA and DOT, if just half of all U.S. employees were covered by these commuter benefits, traffic congestion and air pollution could be cut by the equivalent of taking 15 million cars off the road every year, saving American workers about $12 billion in fuel costs.

The reason that fare-free transit and CAP have been so successful is due to the support of the University community. Everyone who has pre-registered for CAP and those who are registering now are part of the solution.

Sponsored by Department of Public Safety
Writer: Debby Freed, Transportation Demand Management Coordinator

University Gazette