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responsibility and renewal
A slightly larger group use public transportation: nearly 12% report having taken a bus to reach campus. All other modes of transport are eclipsed by single-occupancy vehicles. While 29% of survey respondents claim to carpool to campus at least “some of the time,” 85% report traveling alone “most of the time.” The prevalence of single-occupancy vehicle transport to campus is problematic for several reasons: it increases the need for parking, increases traffic, and has the greatest carbon footprint of all the modes of transit. More fuel is consumed per person and more carbon dioxide is emitted per person if a car carries only one passenger. Currently our students, faculty and staff use about 25,000 gallons of gas per typical school week getting to and from campus. Once on campus, however, getting around is easy. Our campus is built in a circular design. A “ring road” runs along the exterior of the encircled buildings and campus green. The road is lined by parking lots that make getting to main classroom and office buildings a short walk. In addition, the University offers a “DART Van” service that drives a scheduled route around ring road to speed travel and assist those who have trouble walking.
Recent Accomplishments Increase Campus Residency Reducing the environmental impact of transportation to and from campus is challenging, but opportunities exist. Increasing the proportion of residential students rather than commuters helps reduce campus-bound travel circuits. Indeed, in the last ten years the amount of resident students on campus has increased significantly, and currently approximately half of the student population lives on campus. Revamped Carpooling Program The Campus Services and Sustainability Offices have partnered to re-imagine the carpooling program on campus. This partnership has lead to the development of a new carpooling policy, the development of a carpooler matching program, and an increase in the number of preferred parking spaces for carpoolers on campus. The matching program is in late development stage, and proposals are being sought for the installation of signs designating carpooling spaces.
“More fuel is consumed per person and more carbon dioxide is emitted per person if a car carries only one passenger.”