Why have a Commuter Plan?

Since 1999 the estate of UCC has increased by 65,000 m2 of buildings, representing an unprecedented investment in capital development. This process is continuing with developments such as the Post Graduate Library (recently finished) and Biosciences Extension on the Main Campus, and the IT building at the former greyhound track. This level of expansion inevitably puts pressure on existing infrastructure such as car parking, as increasing numbers of students, staff and visitors access the University. Managing this demand and ensuring that the University environment and particularly that of the historic core around the Main Quadrangle, is preserved and enhanced is not an easy task and requires implementation of a sustainable commuting and access policy.

The University’s ability to respond to the continuous increase in access requirements by matching car park demand by ever increasing capacity is further restricted by the obvious planning constraints resulting from its location adjacent to the city centre, its limited land bank and the surrounding road infrastructure. A demand only approach to car parking for a total college community of 2500 staff and 16,500 students would be unsustainable.

Bearing this in mind, UCC committed itself in 2001 to cope with that increasing access demand in an environmental friendly way, in line with Cork City’s development policies. A Commuter Plan was developed for College to improve access to the campus in a sustainable way. In parallel with active car park management, alternative modes of travel, such as Park + Ride, public transport, cycling, car pooling (sharing the daily car journey) or walking, are systematically being addressed, facilitated and promoted. An essential part of the Commuter Plan was the appointment of a Commuter Plan Manager. In April 2006 Stephan Koch was appointed to this post to manage all University commuter issues on a full time basis.