College Campus Mobility Hub Planning as a Model for Expanding Regional Accessibility

Better understand methods for enhancing regional accessibility to resources and opportunities through mobility hub planning, funding, and implementation.

This panel presentation will share experiences, information, and guidance for regional coordination, planning, and implementation of mobility hubs. The presentation will be led by Jackson Archer and Jolene Holland with Nelson\Nygaard, Ezra Pratt and Andrew Pagano from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), and Nathan Hutson with the University of North Texas. The panel all worked or assisted on the NCTCOG Intermodal Transportation Hubs for Colleges and Universities Study, which was completed in May 2023.

The overall goal of this presentation will be to inform, assist, and inspire planners and leaders of localities and institutions to explore and begin planning and coordination in their areas for mobility hubs or other related new mobility concepts – all in an effort to expand much needed regional access to critical destinations and activity centers. Following the presentation, an interactive discussion session on this topic will be held for the remainder of the session time. The discussion session will include guided questions for the audience on any mobility hub planning efforts or resources they can share, as well as open time for questions and answers between the audience and presenters.

The presentation will cover the process of conducting the study as well as the lessons and outcomes that can be applied to future related efforts. There will be specific focus on the robust creativity and coordination between potentially several parties, including municipalities, transit providers, higher education institutions, non-profits, and private mobility providers that is necessary to effectively implement and sustainably operate mobility hubs. This will include guidance on navigating and taking action in the differing roles that are needed in planning, funding, coordinating, and implementing mobility hubs. This is not just for starting a mobility hub network, but also for managing through the life of the network as mobility and accessibility demands, needs, and trends shift over time.

Mobility hubs, particularly when coordinated at a network scale between multiple agencies, organizations, and stakeholders, can enable seamless mobility and access to, from, and in between key regional activity centers. This includes major regional transit stations and transfer centers, job centers, healthcare centers, and college and university campuses. The concept of a mobility hub is highly dynamic, and depending on the purpose and context, can signify a space to transfer between transportation modes in pursuit of another destination, as well as being a destination itself. The vision statement that guided the Intermodal Transportation Hubs for Colleges and Universities Study for NCTCOG captures the mobility hub synergy of access and transportation that we intend to communicate:

Campus mobility hubs are the physical and digital intersection of mobility options, transportation information, campus life, and social interactions. Campus mobility hubs are centralized points both on- and off-campus that facilitate connections across modes and where people have on-demand access to a range of shared mobility options and mobility storage solutions. Typically built on a backbone of public transit and campus shuttles, mobility hubs offer a safe, comfortable, convenient, and accessible space to seamlessly transfer across different mobility options.

While mobility needs and conditions at college and university campuses are certainly distinct, they also serve as a microcosm of local and regional transportation demand generators. The largest campuses in a region can offer destinations and serve purposes beyond education, including housing, jobs, athletics, conferences, and research facilities. Campuses can also mirror the great diversity of mobility needs and levels of options for transit, shared mobility, and active transportation that can be found throughout a region. In this way they can serve as examples and testbeds for understanding how mobility hubs can serve both local needs as well as the needs of a region through a network in order to have greater access to opportunities and resources of all kinds.