At the second of six forums held by the University Assembly to seek input from the Cornell community about transportation, parking and sustainability issues on Dec. 1, four panelists fielded questions from about 25 faculty, staff and students in Kaufmann Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall.

The panelists were Mina Amundsen of Planning, Design and Construction; Kathryn Gleason, associate professor and chair of the landscape architecture department; Ken Mudge, professor of horticulture; and Bill Wendt, director of Transportation and Mail Services.

Amundsen said the university is growing and changes to the parking system are necessary. Among possible solutions: smaller parking spaces, a pedestrians-only central campus to reduce the number of commuters and a "pay as you go" plan rather than pre-paid parking passes.

Wendt, who chairs the Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) board of directors, discussed sustainability initiatives. These include "transportation demand management" to ban single-occupancy vehicles from the central campus and to place more reliance on and the TCAT bus system. Changes in the price of parking permits and bus passes are also being considered.

"I thought that this forum was well-attended, and all of the speakers were very informative," said University Assembly student member Julie Singer '07. "Members of the audience gave some good feedback on ideas that each of the speakers had mentioned at the beginning of the forum along with some of their own. In addition, I'm anxious to see if the administration sends any kind of response to the information we are giving them from the forum."

The University Assembly's Transportation/Redbud Committee will announce dates of future forums. Detailed feedback from each forum will be submitted to President Hunter Rawlings.

George Lowery is projects manager for the Office of Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.