Transportation coordinator doubly big wheel

“Today is not an ideal day, not because of the cold, but the ice,” Callaway, says. “If you’re not an experienced cyclist, I recommend the bus on a day like this.” But even on the coldest days of the year, one mode of transportation she won’t recommend is a car.

As Transportation Demand Management program coordinator, Callaway has to come up with alternatives to driving — and then convince the campus community to use them.

A biannual survey conducted by Transportation Services not long before Callaway was hired in 2001 found that — even in nice weather — 51 percent of employees drive to work alone. Callaway admits that making a dent in that number is much more difficult than she realized.

“I thought everyone would jump on the bandwagon once I told them how great biking is,” jokes Callaway, who owns five functioning bicycles and parts of several others.

Callaway’s penchant for competitive and recreational cycling may bias her opinion about which mode of transportation is best. But she says her love of cycling, which is what attracted her and her husband to witness firsthand the Tour de France the last two summers, has exposed her to how people from other cultures
get around.

When she wasn’t watching Lance Armstrong and other competitors streak by at up to 60 mph, Callaway turned her attention to other, slower-moving European commuters. She discovered that they are much more willing than Americans to leave the car at home — if they own one at all, that is.

“Europeans bike everywhere. I saw women in high-heeled shoes biking to the office. They don’t care because cycling is such a big part of their culture,” she says. “And their mass transit is wonderful too. It was very user-friendly and the signs at stops were very handy.”

If dense European cities have anything in common with UW–Madison, it’s a lack of parking. With about 11,000 stalls, UW–Madison has the fewest stalls per capita in the Big Ten. At any one time, about 200 employees are on waiting lists for annual parking assignments. It’s a problem that is expected to get worse before it gets better as new campus buildings are sited on top of existing parking lots.

Geographical limitations and the high cost of building parking ramps — estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 per stall — make it unlikely that the parking supply will ever match demand. So, Callaway is trying to chip away at the demand.

Last year, she negotiated a plan for free Madison Metro bus passes for university employees, and oversaw the expansion of the Park and Ride program and the free campus bus service. She is working to expand the flex parking program, which uses an in-car meter to charge commuters for the time they park on campus, the goal of which is to reward drivers for finding alternative forms of transportation.

“The first few weeks you leave your car at home are the hardest, because you’re trying to find out when the bus comes, or how to dress on your bike. But once you get into the habit, it’s like any lifestyle change. It becomes normal,” Callaway says.

Callaway realizes that Madison streets will never resemble the streets of Europe, which are filled with more
bikes, buses and trains than cars. She knows that very few — if any — commuters will give up their cars to join her in biking to work on days when the temperature is in the single digits.

“I would love it if more people were just willing to meet in the middle,” she says. “Don’t give up your car completely, but reduce your reliance on driving. It is not only good for the campus and community we could all use a little extra exercise, too.”