Plans to create an on-campus transit center may come to fruition this summer.
The transit center will include a bus stop, digital display boards, bike lockers and shelters. It will be on Vincennes Street and is meant to alleviate congestion.
Colin Donahue, the campus facilities planning director expressed interest in minimizing the use of single-occupancy vehicles to reduce traffic.
“If we can get more people to use transit, we won’t need to build more parking structures,” Donahue said. The center will provide access to Metro, LADOT and other bus services, as well as the campus tram. Metro is already making changes to their bus line schedule to include the transit center for this summer.
Some of the funding for the project is coming from CSUN, but the Metro is funding part of it as well.
“We’re still waiting to get the funds,” Donahue said. “But that was the position we were in a year ago.”
A traffic light has already been installed on Vincennes Street and Reseda Boulevard in anticipation of the project. This is where buses will turn into the transportation center.
CSUN has been making several efforts to increase its sustainability. The Institute for Sustainability develops and promotes programs related to sustainability on campus. The university also offers a minor in sustainability.
There are several parking structures available for the 33,000 students to park, but many still have problems finding parking at certain hours of the day. With the creation of the transit center, its anticipated that more students will choose to use the bus or bike to school.
Currently, public transit is heavily used by students. During the first week of school, over 100 students bought monthly transit passes from the ticket office, utilizing the transit subsidy provided by Associated Students. Students can buy a monthly pass for $16 from the ticket office if they have a student TAP card, whereas normally a monthly student pass is $36.
Still, there are a few obstacles before the transit center can be finished. The project is still waiting for the funds from Metro.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average car costs $8,003 per year to own and operate. Buying a monthly transit pass from the ticket office will cost students $144 for 9 months.
There are already a number of bus stops around campus, including one by the residence halls and one by the orange grove.
CSUN has a Transportation Working Group that has met several times to discuss transportation at CSUN and the transit center.
Adam Banuelos, 18, a mechanical engineering major, drives six miles to school, but he’s thinking about starting to bike to school instead.
“I wanted to get back into exercising, and I’m not sure how much buses cost,” he said.
The plans for the transit center were first proposed to the San Fernando Valley Governance Council. It will likely look like the North Hollywood Redline station.
