Medical Center leadership answers the tough questions about what the elevate program is and what it means for the people who work at VUMC.
Question: On several recent mornings, I've had to use the 25th Avenue Garage after finding the shuttle lots to have been full. Is there a parking plan to accommodate the Medical Center's continuing growth?
Answer: We've been able to relieve the recent overbooking of the shuttle lots, which only became apparent after the start of the current semester. We were able to move 150 vehicles out of the shuttle lots and into parking garages (the lots are open to anyone wait-listed for the garages); we freed another 50 shuttle lot spaces by moving shuttle bus parking off campus; and we've temporarily suspended registration for the shuttle lots. With these changes, diversion to parking garages has lessened, and should soon end completely. Thank you for your patience.
The parking garage going up at the old Medical Center South location will provide another 800 parking spaces for patients and families. (This garage will for a time also accommodate staff overflow parking.) It will open next fall.
The University recently reviewed potential locations for additional staff parking. The more promising options include putting a garage off 28th Avenue, adjacent to the shuttle lots, but a decision hasn't yet been reached.
We continue to develop mass transit programs for employees. Some 450 employees per day take the bus to work under Vanderbilt's MTA Free Ride program; and a free shuttle currently carries some 70 employees per day between downtown's new commuter train station and the Vanderbilt campus.
We urge all drivers to consider participating in VUMC's car pool programs, which afford considerable parking fee savings. For details, call Medical Center Traffic and parking at 936-1215.
— Ken Browning, VUMC director of Plant Services