Welcome!
By: Bob Browand
Welcome to Word on the Street, your new one-stop shop for all things parking, transportation and UH coming straight to you from me, Bob Browand, director of the University’s Parking and Transportation Services Department.
Here I’ll put my more than 30 years of industry experience to use for you as I discuss everything from public transportation to on-campus shuttles and even answer questions like ‘why does parking oversell its permits?’ and ‘how can I ride METRO at a discounted rate?’. But before we dive into all of that, I’d like to give you a quick snapshot of just how far parking and transportation has come over the years.
When I first arrived at UH back in 1997, there were just 14,194 spaces, purchasing your permit was done either over the phone or in person if you were a student and there were no garages at all. Talk about a different world. There were a lot fewer buildings on campus and things seemed to move a whole lot slower than they do now.
Fast forward nearly 20 years to today. Four new garages have been added to the University’s skyline bringing with them a total of 6,637 new parking spaces, students, faculty and staff can conveniently purchase their permits online through AccessUH and everyone with a Cougar Card ID has access to ride three free shuttle routes around campus. Clearly, lots of strides have been made; however we know we still have further to go.
Just as the University continues to grow and evolve every day, so, too, will the parking and transportation program. While it may be hard to tell, and some of you may take this with a grain of salt, I guarantee you we’re constantly working with our campus partners to not only eliminate some common complaints such as constantly full parking lots and unpredictable shuttle schedules, but also refine the overall experience for everyone.
So please, bear with us and in the meantime stay tuned, we’ve got some big things in the works.