Dear Editor:
Regarding the article of Sept. 28, 2014, for businesses, parking’s a perennial problem, it should be noted that: The vast majority of Stevens employees take public transportation (NJ Transit trains, Light Rail, buses, and ferries). Stevens community members who do drive to Hoboken park in dedicated parking spaces on campus and not on Hoboken’s streets. Most students live on campus. The majority of those who live off-campus do not have a car and use a Stevens shuttle or bike to get around. We have added four shuttles to encourage use of mass transit. Each Stevens shuttle on the road is that many fewer cars driving and parking in Hoboken. About 175 faculty and staff live in Hoboken. They are members of the community and qualify for resident parking spaces. Stevens has taken a very proactive approach to assess our parking needs and reduce cars to Hoboken and to our campus.
In 2013, we conducted a parking and traffic demand management analysis and have implemented several of the initial recommendations, including adding shuttles as well as installation of bike racks on campus, which has quadrupled the number of bike users, and other measures. One point of clarification in the article should be noted: a quote was attributed to me that said that “if everyone had the option to drive to campus, most would.” This comment is a statement on the fact that humans are attached to their cars and the convenience cars provide. This is not a statement that is unique to Stevens or any other organization. Stevens is being proactive in finding incentives to encourage alternatives to cars.
Robert Maffia
Vice President for Facilities and Campus Operations