{"id":4474,"date":"2012-09-30T21:50:08","date_gmt":"2012-10-01T01:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/?p=4474"},"modified":"2012-10-01T17:24:57","modified_gmt":"2012-10-01T21:24:57","slug":"transit-takes-a-back-seat-at-university-of-rochester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/2012\/09\/transit-takes-a-back-seat-at-university-of-rochester\/","title":{"rendered":"Transit Takes a Back Seat at University of Rochester"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"University of Rochester president Joel Seligman showing off plans for College Town. Original plans included an enclosed public transit center. The latest plans include twice as much parking as originally called for and no transit center. [PHOTO: Democrat &#038; Chronicle]\" rel=\"lightbox-collegeTown\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/joel-seligman-college-town.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/joel-seligman-college-town.jpg\" border=\"1\" alt=\"University of Rochester president Joel Seligman showing off plans for College Town. Original plans included an enclosed public transit center. The latest plans include twice as much parking as originally called for and no transit center. [PHOTO: Democrat &#038; Chronicle]\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In case you haven&#8217;t heard, plans for a transit center at University of Rochester&#8217;s College Town have been scrapped. The project is set to receive <a href=\"http:\/\/www.democratandchronicle.com\/article\/20120928\/NEWS01\/309280034\/University-of-Rochester-Charles-Schumer-College-Town?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CHome%7Cs&#038;nclick_check=1\" target=\"_new\">$20 Million in public loans <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:relative; top:2px;\" alt=\"external link\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" width=\"15\" heigth=\"11\" border=\"0\"><\/a> but the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.democratandchronicle.com\/article\/20120830\/NEWS01\/308300041\/College-Town-University-Rochester\" target=\"_new\">D&#038;C reported <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:relative; top:2px;\" alt=\"external link\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" width=\"15\" heigth=\"11\" border=\"0\"><\/a> that plans for an enclosed transit center\u2014which would have had 10 to 12 bus bays\u2014no longer fits the developers&#8217; needs.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->This is a sad and unfortunate decision. <\/p>\n<p>I asked RGRTA if they are still committed to improving transit service to the UofR Medical Center. They are indeed. RGRTA says while there will not be an enclosed facility, alternative solutions might include new routes, premium shelters and curb cuts within the Mt Hope \/ Crittenden \/ Kendrick \/ Elmwood block with stops at both sides of the main entrance.<\/p>\n<p>But the greater issue may be that Joel Seligman and leaders at Rochester&#8217;s most influential educational institution do not appear to understand how important it is for they themselves to show leadership in prioritizing transit options over automobile use.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"College Town at University of Rochester. [RENDERING: Fairmount Properties]\" rel=\"lightbox-collegeTown\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/university-of-rochester-college-town.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/photos\/university-of-rochester-college-town.jpg\" border=\"1\" alt=\"College Town at University of Rochester. [RENDERING: Fairmount Properties]\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nCollege Town&#8217;s 1,525 space, five-story parking garage <a href=\"http:\/\/www.democratandchronicle.com\/article\/20120830\/NEWS01\/308300041\/College-Town-University-Rochester\" target=\"_new\">seems to grow larger every time plans are updated <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:relative; top:2px;\" alt=\"external link\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" width=\"15\" heigth=\"11\" border=\"0\"><\/a>. This is not 21st century thinking. Building <a href=\"http:\/\/www.governor.ny.gov\/press\/02172012Rochester-I390\" target=\"_new\">a new highway interchange <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:relative; top:2px;\" alt=\"external link\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" width=\"15\" heigth=\"11\" border=\"0\"><\/a> to ease automobile congestion is not 21st century thinking.<br \/>\nShutting out public transit and transportation alternatives is not 21st century thinking. <\/p>\n<p>These regressive decisions by the University set a poor example for students and for future community developments. In the long run they are damaging to Rochester&#8217;s environment, our health, and our economy.<\/p>\n<p>Elementary school children understand these concepts. Are those in charge of Rochester&#8217;s prestigious educational institution still in the dark? Maybe we should all contact Mr. Seligman and tell him why we think public transit options need to be given greater priority at UofR&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:seligman@rochester.edu\"><b>Joel Seligman<\/b><\/a><br \/>\nOffice of the President<br \/>\nUniversity of Rochester<br \/>\n240 Wallis Hall<br \/>\nRochester, NY 14627<br \/>\nPhone: (585) 275-8356<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:seligman@rochester.edu\">seligman@rochester.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Related Links:<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/therochesterian.com\/2012\/09\/29\/college-town-travesty\/\" target=\"_new\">Rachel Barnhart calls College Town &#8220;a travesty&#8221; <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:relative; top:2px;\" alt=\"external link\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" width=\"15\" heigth=\"11\" border=\"0\"><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.democratandchronicle.com\/article\/20120928\/NEWS01\/309280034\/University-of-Rochester-Charles-Schumer-College-Town?odyssey=nav%7Chead\" target=\"_new\">$20 million federal loan for College Town <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:relative; top:2px;\" alt=\"external link\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/images\/icon_link.gif\" width=\"15\" heigth=\"11\" border=\"0\"><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In case you haven&#8217;t heard, plans for a transit center at University of Rochester&#8217;s College Town have been scrapped. The project is set to receive $20 Million in public loans but the D&#038;C reported that plans for an enclosed transit center\u2014which would have had 10 to 12 bus bays\u2014no longer fits the developers&#8217; needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[114,3,79],"tags":[1436,1437,154,1438,167,381],"class_list":["post-4474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rochester_news","category-mass_transit_infrastructure","category-urban_development","tag-college-town","tag-joel-seligman","tag-rochester-genesee-regional-transportation-authority-rgrta","tag-satellite-transit-center","tag-university-of-rochester","tag-uofr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4474"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4478,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4474\/revisions\/4478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}